The phrase "existed for less" is grammatically correct and can be used in written English.
It means that something or someone has existed for a shorter amount of time than expected. An example sentence using this phrase could be: "The ancient civilization only existed for less than a hundred years before it disappeared completely." This means that the civilization did not have a long lifespan and only existed for a relatively short period of time.
John Denham's old department existed for less than two years.
In fact, in New York City, one-fifth of the centers operating earlier this year had existed for less than five years.
But most New Yorkers will have trouble tapping into deep wells of nostalgia for lines that existed for less than a decade.
In this most crowded of primary seasons, no major race is shaping up to be more crowded than that for public advocate, a position that has existed for less than a decade.
The band existed for less than five years and didn't build a big enough audience to sustain them, but nobody put on a better loud rock show in the early nineties.
When Mr. Ferren writes about the "city and the country" adapting to influences "for a thousand years," without specifying those influences, it gets confusing, because Slovakia has existed for less than a century.
Species with n, m > 3 exist for less than 5 ps, with some existing for just 0.1 ps or less.
The S1 state typically exists for 1 100 nanoseconds (ns; 1 ns is 10−9 second), but if photochemistry occurs, it can exist for less than 100 fs.
More than 3,000 times heavier than an electron, and highly unstable, it exists for less than a trillionth of a second before breaking into smaller elements.
Scientists may be adding a new element to the periodic table, but don't expect to see it anytime soon: created in a laboratory, it exists for less than a second.
Some organizations, such as the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, can point to a history extending back a century or more; other circuses, such as those sponsored by fraternal organizations (e.g., the Shriners), may exist for less than a single season or for only one engagement.
