FEW

few

(adjective) a quantifier that can be used with count nouns and is often preceded by ‘a’; a small but indefinite number; “a few weeks ago”; “a few more wagons than usual”; “an invalid’s pleasures are few and far between”; “few roses were still blooming”; “few women have led troops in battle”

few

(noun) a small elite group; “it was designed for the discriminating few”

Source: WordNet® 3.1

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Etymology

Determiner

few

(preceded by another determiner) An indefinite, but usually small, number of.

(used alone) Not many; a small (in comparison with another number stated or implied) but somewhat indefinite number of.

(meteorology, of clouds) (US?) Obscuring one eighth to two eighths of the sky.

(meteorology, of rainfall with regard to a location) (US?) Having a 10 percent chance of measurable precipitation (0.01 inch); used interchangeably with isolated.

Usage notes

• Few is used with plural nouns only; its synonymous counterpart little is used with uncountable nouns.

• Although indefinite in nature, a few is usually more than two (two often being referred to as "a couple of"), and less than "several". If the sample population is say between 5 and 20, a few would mean three or four, but no more than this. However, if the population sample size were in the millions, "a few" could refer to several hundred items. In other words, few in this context means a very very small percentage but far more than the 3 or 4 usually ascribed to it in its use with much much smaller numbers.

• Few is grammatically affirmative but semantically negative, and it can license negative polarity items. For example, anything usually cannot be used in affirmative sentences, but can be used in sentences with few.

He didn't do anything to help us.

*He did anything to help us. (ungrammatical)

Few people did anything to help us.

*A few people did anything to help us. (ungrammatical, since a few is a different unit of meaning from few and does not license NPIs)

• Few alone emphasises smallness of number, while a few emphasises some. For example: He's a dull man with few ideas; He's a clever man with a few ideas.

Synonyms

• little (see usage)

Antonyms

• many

Pronoun

few

Few people, few things.

Antonyms

• many

Etymology

Proper noun

Few

(British) The pilots who fought in the Battle of Britain.

Source: Wiktionary

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Few, a. [Compar. Fewer; superl. Fewest.] Etym: [OE. fewe, feawe, AS. feá, pl. feáwe; akin to OS. fah, OHG. f*, Icel. far, Sw. få, pl., Dan. faa, pl., Goth. faus, L. paucus, cf. Gr. Paucity.]

Definition: Not many; small, limited, or confined in number; -- indicating a small portion of units or individuals constituing a whole; often, by ellipsis of a noun, a few people. "Are not my days few" Job x. 20. Few know and fewer care. Proverb.

Note: Few is often used partitively; as, few of them. A few, a small number.

– In few, in a few words; briefly. Shak. - No few, not few; more than a few; many. Cowper. - The few, the minority; -- opposed to the many or the majority.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition

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