few
not many but more than one: Few artists live luxuriously.
(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.
(used with a plural verb) a small number of persons or things: A dozen people volunteered, but few have shown up.
Idioms about 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
1Other words from few
- o·ver·few, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use few in a sentence
Notably, the states with the fewest of these professionals also have the worst breastfeeding outcomes.
This was the fifth Super Bowl in which a team allowing the fewest points during the season opposed a team scoring the most points.
The Impossible Super Bowl Score: First 43-8 Football Game in a Century | Evin Demirel | February 3, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTAnd the Seattle Seahawks led the league in fewest yards allowed per game, 273.6, and average points given up per game, 14.4.
In that same span the team that allowed the fewest points in the league has made to the big game 15 times and won 12.
It requires the mental discipline to compress thoughts into the fewest possible words.
He had the military trick of putting an emphatic order in the fewest and simplest words.
The Red Year | Louis TracySo I looked hurriedly over the field, and decided that an American girl in my class suggested fewest complications.
Ancestors | Gertrude AthertonThe later alien influx has rushed us into the thick of urban problems, and these are gravest where Americans are fewest.
The Old World in the New | Edward Alsworth RossThese routes presented the fewest difficulties and demanded the least readaptation or change of habit.
The New Stone Age in Northern Europe | John M. Tyler"Such dealing makes fewest bankrupts," said Heffernan, coolly.
The Knight Of Gwynne, Vol. II (of II) | Charles James Lever
British Dictionary definitions for few
/ (fjuː) /
a small number of; hardly any: few men are so cruel
(as pronoun; functioning as plural): many are called but few are chosen
(preceded by a)
a small number of: a few drinks
(as pronoun; functioning as plural): a few of you
a good few informal several
few and far between
at great intervals; widely spaced
not abundant; scarce
have a few or have a few too many to consume several (or too many) alcoholic drinks
not a few or quite a few informal several
the few a small number of people considered as a class: the few who fell at Thermopylae Compare many (def. 4)
Origin of few
1few
Derived forms of few
- fewness, noun
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
Other Idioms and Phrases with few
In addition to the idioms beginning with few
- few and far between
- few bricks shy of a load
- few words
also see:
- a few
- bricks shy of a load, (a few)
- of few words
- precious few
- quite a bit (few)
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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