Few

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Few \Few\ (f[=u]), a. [Compar. {Fewer} (f[=u]"[~e]r); superl.
     {Fewest}.] [OE. fewe, feawe, AS. fe['a], pl. fe['a]we; akin
     to OS. f[=a]h, OHG. f[=o] fao, Icel. f[=a]r, Sw. f[*a], pl.,
     Dan. faa, pl., Goth. faus, L. paucus, cf. Gr. pay^ros. Cf.
     {Paucity}.]
     Not many; small, limited, or confined in number; --


     indicating a small portion of units or individuals
     constituting a whole; often, by ellipsis of a noun, a few
     people. "Are not my days few?" --Job x. 20.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           Few know and fewer care.                 --Proverb.
     [1913 Webster]
  
     Note: Few is often used partitively; as, few of them.
           [1913 Webster]
  
     {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.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  few
       adj : 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" [ant: {many}]
       n 1: an indefinite but relatively small number; "they bought a
            case of beer and drank a few"
       2: a small elite group; "it was designed for the discriminating
          few"

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  50 Moby Thesaurus words for "few":
     cursory, depthless, footling, handful, hardly any, inconsequential,
     inconsiderable, insignificant, least, little, littlest, low,
     lowest, meager, miniature, minim, minimum, negligible,
     no great shakes, not many, occasional, of small number, petty,
     picayune, picayunish, precious little, rare, scarce, scarcely any,
     scattering, seldom, shallow, short, shortest, skin-deep, slightest,
     small, smallest, smatter, smattering, spatter, spattering,
     sporadic, sprinkling, superficial, tiny, trifling, trivial,
     uncommon, unfrequent