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few (iou)



few adjective (in mod. usage also classed as a determiner) [fju:], pronoun, & noun.
[Old English feawe, feawa contr. fea = Old Frisian fe, Old Saxon fa(o) Old High German fao, fo, Old Norse far, Gothic pl. fawai from Germanic from Indo-European base also of Latin paucus, Greek pauros small.]
A. adjective.
With noun pl. Not many, hardly any; a small number (with compar. & superl.). (Preceding the noun and other adjectives but following any determiners (the def. article, demonstratives, possessives, etc.) or ordinal numerals (also last, next); also pred. after be etc.) OE.
J. Conrad Packing his few belongings. P. G. Wodehouse George Pennicut contented himself with saying 'Goo!' He was a man of few words. R. S. Thomas After the few people have gone. P. Scott Marriages and christenings, of which there seemed..to be fewer than there were funerals. Times They have few, if any, close friends. W. Boyd Temple spent the next few days in an..attempt to find someone who would admit he was a 'problem'. Economist There are very few openings in universities at the moment.
With noun pl. A small number of. (Preceding the noun and other adjectives.) ME.
J. Conrad In a very few hours I arrived. A. Uttley The leaves had gone, all but a few odd ones.
b. A small quantity of. Long obsolete exc. dial. LME.
Of a company or number: small. Now rare. LME.
New York Times The fewest number of firemen in the history of the city.
b. pronoun & noun.
absol. Few people or things understood contextually; not many of, hardly any of. (Also modified by adverb as very, many.) OE.
Shakespeare Henry V We few, we happy few, we band of brothers. A. Helps How few of your fellow-creatures can have the opportunity. G. B. Shaw Very few of them are fortunate enough to enjoy this advantage. G. Greene Few..drank anywhere else.
A small number (of). ME.
C. Isherwood Most of the boys looked up and grinned.., only a few were sullen. J. C. Powys Courtly travellers, a few of whom were bound for Oxford.
b. A good bit, a considerable extent. arch. slang. M18.
W. Irving Determined to astonish the natives a few!
The small company (specified or understood). Now usu. the minority, the elect; spec. (Few) the Royal Air Force pilots who took part in the Battle of Britain. M16.
Phrases: a good few colloq. a considerable number (of). catch a few z's, get a few z's: see Z, Z 1b. every few once in every small group of (days, miles, etc.), at intervals of a few (days, miles, etc.). few and far between neither numerous nor frequent. have a few spec. (colloq.) have a few alcoholic drinks. in few arch. in few words, in short, briefly. no fewer than as many as (a specified number). not a few, quite a few colloq. a considerable number (of or of). of few words: see WORD noun. some few some but not at all many (of).
fewness noun small number or quantity OE.