few
[ fyoo ]
/ fyu /
adjective, few·er, few·est.
not many but more than one: Few artists live luxuriously.
noun
(used with a plural verb)
a small number or amount: Send me a few.
the few,
a special, limited number; the minority: That music appeals to the few.
pronoun
(used with a plural verb)
a small number of persons or things: A dozen people volunteered, but few have shown up.
Idioms for few
few and far between,
at widely separated intervals; infrequent: In Nevada the towns are few and far between.
quite a few,
a fairly large number; many: There were quite a few interesting things to do.
Origin of few
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
OTHER WORDS FROM few
o·ver·few, adjectiveWords nearby few
Example sentences from the Web for few
British Dictionary definitions for few
few
/ (fjuː) /
determiner
noun
the few
a small number of people considered as a class
the few who fell at Thermopylae Compare many (def. 4)
Derived forms of few
fewness, nounWord Origin for few
Old English
fēawa; related to Old High German
fao little, Old Norse
fār little, silent
undefined few
See
less
Idioms and Phrases with few
few