few

few  (fy)

adj. few·er, few·est

1. Amounting to or consisting of a small number: one of my few bad habits.

2. Being more than one but indefinitely small in number: bowled a few strings.

n. (used with a pl. verb)

1. An indefinitely small number of persons or things: A few of the books have torn jackets.

2. An exclusive or limited number: the discerning few; the fortunate few.

pron. (used with a pl. verb)

A small number of persons or things: "For many are called, but few are chosen" (Matthew 22:14).

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[Middle English fewe, from Old English fawe; see pau-¹ in Indo-European roots.]

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fewness n.

Usage Note: The traditional rule holds that fewer should be used for things that can be counted (fewer than four players), while less should be used with mass terms for things of measurable extent (less paper; less than a gallon of paint). However, less is used in some constructions where fewer would occur if the traditional rule were being followed. Less than can be used before a plural noun that denotes a measure of time, amount, or distance: less than three weeks; less than $400; less than 50 miles. Less is sometimes used with plural nouns in the expressions no less than (as in No less than 30 of his colleagues signed the letter) and or less (as in Give your reasons in 25 words or less).

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few

Adjective

1. hardly any: few homes had telephones in Paris in the 1930s

2. a few a small number of: a few days ago

3. a good few Informal several

4. few and far between scarce

5. quite a few Informal several [Old English fēawa]

USAGE: See at less.

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	few - a small elite group; "it was designed for the discriminating few" elite, elite group - a group or class of persons enjoying superior intellectual or social or economic status
Adj.	1.	few - 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" fewer - (comparative of `few' used with count nouns) quantifier meaning a smaller number of; "fewer birds came this year"; "the birds are fewer this year"; "fewer trains were late" some - quantifier; used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns to indicate an unspecified number or quantity; "have some milk"; "some roses were still blooming"; "having some friends over"; "some apples"; "some paper" many - a quantifier that can be used with count nouns and is often preceded by `as' or `too' or `so' or `that'; amounting to a large but indefinite number; "many temptations"; "the temptations are many"; "a good many"; "a great many"; "many directions"; "take as many apples as you like"; "too many clouds to see"; "never saw so many people"

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few

adjective 1. not many, one or two, hardly any, scarcely any, rare, thin, scattered, insufficient, scarce, scant, meagre, negligible, sporadic, sparse, infrequent, scanty, inconsiderable << OPPOSITE many

pronoun 2. a small number, a handful, a sprinkling, a scattering, some, scarcely any few and far between scarce, rare, unusual, scattered, irregular, uncommon, in short supply, hard to come by, infrequent, thin on the ground, widely spaced, seldom met with

Translations

few [fjuː] adj (= not many) → pocos (= some); algunos, unos

pron → algunos;

a few adj → unos pocos; few people, poca gente;

a good few, quite a few → bastantes;

in or over the next few days → en los próximos días;

every few weeks → cada 2 o 3 semanas;

a few more days → unos días más

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few [fjuː] adj (= not many) → peu de

pron → peu;

few succeed → il y en a peu qui réussissent, (bien) peu réussissent;

they were few → ils étaient peu (nombreux), il y en avait peu;

a few (as adj) → quelques;

(as pron) → quelques-uns/unes;

I know a few → j'en connais quelques-uns;

quite a few ... adj → un certain nombre de ..., pas mal de ...;

in the next few days → dans les jours qui viennent;

in the past few days → ces derniers jours;

every few days/months → tous les deux ou trois jours/mois;

a few more ... → encore quelques ..., quelques ... de plus

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few [fjuː] adj → wenige;

a few (adj) → ein paar, einige;

(pron) → ein paar;

a few more (days) → noch ein paar (Tage);

they were few → sie waren nur wenige;

few succeed → nur wenigen gelingt es;

very few survive → nur sehr wenige überleben;

I know a few → ich kenne einige;

a good few, quite a few → ziemlich viele;

in the next/past few days → in den nächsten/letzten paar Tagen;

every few days/months → alle paar Tage/Monate

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few [fjuː] adj → pochi/e

pron → alcuni/e;

few succeed → pochi ci riescono;

they were few → erano pochi;

a few ... → qualche ...;

I know a few → ne conosco alcuni;

a good few, quite a few → parecchi;

in the next few days → nei prossimi giorni;

in the past few days → negli ultimi giorni, in questi ultimi giorni;

every few days/months → ogni due o tre giorni/mesi;

a few more days → qualche altro giorno

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few

adj / pron few [fjuː]

not many; a very small number of Few people visit me nowadays; every few minutes (= very frequently); Such opportunities are few. min; weinig قَليل няколко málo, pár få; ikke ret mange wenige λίγοι, ελάχιστοι pocos mõni, vähesed بسیار کم harvat peu (nombreux) מְעַט कुछ malo njih, nekoliko kevés tidak banyak fáir poco ほとんどない 소수의, 드문 nedaug, mažai bieži tidak banyak weinig få mało pouco puţin немногие; немного málo redek; malo malo få, sällsynta ไม่มาก, เล็กน้อย az sayıda 很少的 мало, небагато کم ، تھوڑے سے không nhiều; ít 很少的

a few

a small number (emphasizing that there are indeed some) There are a few books in this library about geology; We have only a few left. 'n paar; enkele قَليل малко několik (málo), trochu nogle; en del; enkelte; et par einige αρκετοί, μερικοί algunos mõni تعدادی؛ چند تا muutama quelques (-un(e)s) אַחֲדִים कुछ par njih néhány, nem sok sedikit nokkrir alcuno, qualche 少数の 약간, 조금, 소수 keletas daži sedikit een paar noen (få), et par; en hel del kilka uns poucos câţiva, câteva несколько niekoľko, pár nekaj mali broj några stycken, några få จำนวนน้อย birkaç (tane) 少數 декілька چند ، کچھ một vài; một ít 少数

few and far between

very few Interesting jobs are few and far between. skaars; dun gesaai قَليل جِدّا рядкост jen tu a tam, ojediněle få; langt imellem; sjælden sehr vereinzelt ελάχιστοι poquísimos, contadísimos, muy escasos haruldane نادر؛ کم harvassa rare מְעַט מְאוֹד इने-गिने, दुर्लभ rijetko koji, poneki néhány sedikit sekali örfáir; sjaldgæfur raro ごくまれな 극히 드문 labai nedaug reti sangat sedikit schaars langt mellom rzadki poucos e raros rar редкие zriedkavý zelo malo redak tunnsådda, sällsynta น้อยมาก ender, çok seyrek 稀少 рідкі بڑے بڑے وقفوں سے thất thường 稀少

few means `not many'.

a few means `some'.

see also less .