smalls

noun[plural only]4

1. •
   (UK, informal) Underwear.

   • He's in the garden hanging his smalls on the washing line.
   • The smalls he was wearing were tight.
2. •
   (informal) Ellipsis of small ads.

   • Provincial English papers still carry their “smalls” — want ads — on the first page. — 1957
3. •
   Small goods.
4. •
   (old-fashioned) The preliminary examination for a degree.