51Թ

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View synonyms for

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

/ ː /

determiner

    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

  1. (preceded by a)

    1. a small number of

      a few drinks

    2. ( as pronoun; functioning as plural )

      a few of you

  2. informalseveral

    1. at great intervals; widely spaced

    2. not abundant; scarce

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

  4. informalseveral

“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

noun

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

    the few who fell at Thermopylae

“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Other 51Թ Forms

  • overfew adjective
  • ˈڱɲԱ noun
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51Թ History and Origins

Origin of few1

First recorded before 900; Middle English fewe, Old English ŧɱ; cognate with Gothic fawai; akin to Latin paucus “f,” paulus “lٳٱ,” pauper “poor,” Greek 貹ûDz “little, few”
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51Թ History and Origins

Origin of few1

Old English ŧɲ ; related to Old High German fao little, Old Norse little, silent
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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.

In addition to the idioms beginning with few, also see a few; bricks shy of a load, (a few); of few words; precious few; quite a bit (few).
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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

More than 200 have been approved since the policy was introduced a few years ago.

From

"I have a few more points on my licence to play with, so let's see."

From

Over the past few years, Spain has increased the amount of time given to new fathers.

From

The three positions that had changed hands were each just a few foxholes in the ground –⁠ dots on a devastated landscape of craters and shredded trees.

From

By mid-afternoon Saturday, a crowd of a few hundred protesters had surrounded the Federal Building downtown, where dozens of U.S.

From

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Related 51Թs

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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feverwortfew and far between