155 Drop in the bucket
(PW) a small amount
It cost of fixing the sink is a drop in the bucket compared to replacing the whole sink.
(free)
An insufficient or inconsequential amount in comparison with what is required.
(usingEnglish)
A drop in the bucket is something so small that it won't make any noticeable difference.
(your) A very small quantity, especially one that is too small.
For example, these contributions are just a drop in the bucket; the new church wing will cost thousands more. John Wycliffe's followers used this seemingly modern phrase in their translation of the Bible (1382), and it also appears in the 1611 King James version (Isaiah 40:15): “Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance.”
(phraseFinder) A very small proportion of the whole.
Origin
From the Bible, Isaiah 40:15 (King James Version): "Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing."
'A drop in the bucket' is the predecessor of 'a drop in the ocean', which means the same thing. This is first found in a piece from The Edinburgh Weekly Journal, July 1802:
"The votes for the appointment of Bonaparte to be Chief Consul for life are like a drop in the ocean compared with the aggregate of the population of France."
