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few and far between

 - 3 dictionary results
Few And Far Between
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few

  [fyoo] adjective, -er, -est, noun, pronoun
Use few and far between in a Sentence
–adjective
1. not many but more than one: Few artists live luxuriously.
–noun
2. (used with a plural verb) a small number or amount: Send me a few.
3. the few, a special, limited number; the minority: That music appeals to the few.
–pronoun
4. (used with a plural verb) a small number of persons or things: A dozen people volunteered, but few have shown up.
—Idioms
5. few and far between, at widely separated intervals; infrequent: In Nevada the towns are few and far between.
6. quite a few, a fairly large number; many: There were quite a few interesting things to do.
Origin:
bef. 900; ME fewe, OE fēawe; c. Goth fawai; akin to L paucus few, paulus little, pauper poor, Gk paûros little, few
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Few And Far Between
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Word Origin & History

few  (adj.)
O.E. feawe (contracted to fea), from Gmc. *faw- (cf. O.N. far, Dan. faa, O.Fris. fe, O.H.G. foh "little," Goth. fawai "few"), from PIE *pau- "smallness" (cf. L. paucus "few, little," paullus "little," pauper "poor;" Gk. pauros "few, little," pais (gen. paidos) "child;" L. puer "child, boy," pullus "young animal;" Oscan puklu "child;" Skt. potah "a young animal," putrah "son;" O.C.S. puta "bird;" Lith. putytis "young animal, young bird"). Always plural in O.E. Phrase few and far between attested from 1668. Unusual ironic use in quite a few "many" (1883), earlier a good few (1828).
"Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few." [Winston Churchill, 1940]
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Idioms & Phrases

few and far between

At wide intervals, scarce, as in Supporters of the amendment are few and far between. This expression originally was used very literally for physical objects such as houses appearing at widely separated intervals. Today it is also used more loosely. [Mid-1600s]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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