If you just need the selection/traversal/manipulation of jQuery then just make a custom jQuery build with that. If that is still "too big" then use the alternat

If you just need the selection/traversal/manipulation of jQuery then just make a custom jQuery build with that. If that is still "too big" then use the alternate (qSA minimally wrapped) selector engine instead of Sizzle. Instructions are in the README in the jQuery repo. The advantage of this approach is that if you decide you need more of jQuery (for example to support a plugin) you can pull in what you need rather than reinvent and debug your own.