few

[fyoo]

adjective

fewer, fewest 

1. not many but more than one.

   Few artists live luxuriously.

noun

1. (used with a plural verb),  a small number or amount.

   Send me a few.

2. the few, a special, limited number; the minority.

   That music appeals to the few.

pronoun

1. (used with a plural verb),  a small number of persons or things.

   A dozen people volunteered, but few have shown up.

few

/ fjuː /

determiner

1. 1. a small number of; hardly any

      few men are so cruel

   2. ( as pronoun; functioning as plural )

      many are called but few are chosen

2. (preceded by a)

   1. a small number of

      a few drinks

   2. ( as pronoun; functioning as plural )

      a few of you

3. informal,  several

4. 1. at great intervals; widely spaced

   2. not abundant; scarce

5. to consume several ( or too many) alcoholic drinks

6. informal,  several

noun

1. a small number of people considered as a class Compare many

   the few who fell at Thermopylae

Other Word Forms

• overfew adjective
• fewness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of few¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English fewe, Old English fēawe; cognate with Gothic fawai; akin to Latin paucus “few,” paulus “little,” pauper “poor,” Greek paûros “little, few”

Word History and Origins

Origin of few¹

Old English fēawa ; related to Old High German fao little, Old Norse fār little, silent

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. quite a few, a fairly large number; many.

   There were quite a few interesting things to do.

2. few and far between, at widely separated intervals; infrequent.

   In Nevada the towns are few and far between.

More idioms and phrases containing few

• a few
• bricks shy of a load, (a few)
• of few words
• precious few
• quite a bit (few)

Example Sentences

Life ain’t beanbag, and we probably needed a smash-mouth leader to fix things that have slipped over the past few decades.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

"This research is very important because alcohol and drug addiction are major causes of illness and death, yet there are still only a few effective treatment options," Leggio said.

Read more on Science Daily

Pennywise embodies an ancient malice that surfaces every 27 years to prey on children for anywhere between a few months and a year and a half or more.

Read more on Salon

Park notes that the international following has been growing rapidly over the last few weeks.

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But over the past few years, the retailer has struggled to keep up with Walmart Inc.

Read more on MarketWatch

Related Words

• several 
• some