bare minimum

plural bare minima · plural bare minimums

1. The smallest possible quantity or the least fulfilling, but still adequate, condition that is required, acceptable, or suitable for some purpose.

   The foreign companies would punish Bolivia by refusing to invest and only sustaining the bare minimum of operations here.

   2006 November 1, Jean Friedman, “Can Bolivia's Revolution Pay Dividends?”, in Time

   2 more examples

   The Belgian colonies, if they adhere to these limits, must provide for all their wants at a lower cost by one half than the French as a bare minimum.

   1852, Joseph Fletcher, “Statistics of the Farm School System of the Continent,”, in Journal of the Statistical Society of London, volume 15, number 1, page 32

   It is the old problem of what a victor is to do with the vanquished, if the latter is to gain the bare minimum of economic independence.

   1948, D. B. Copland, “United States Policy in China,”, in Pacific Affairs, volume 21, number 4, page 344

   Synonyms: modicum