From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englisha drop in the oceana drop in the oceanBritish English, a drop in the bucket American EnglishSMALL a very small amount of something compared to what is needed or wanted 5,000 new schools are to be built, but this is just a drop in the ocean for such a vast country. → drop
Examples from the Corpus
a drop in the ocean• Third World debt is so massive that recent pledges to reduce or forgive it are just a drop in the bucket.• The United States pledge of $100 million to the rainforest fund is a drop in the ocean.• With 2m men and women in uniform, a 60,000-strong force is just a drop in the ocean. 