Few Definition

fyo͝o

fewest

adjective

fewest

Not many; a small number of.

Few seats were left, a few people came.

Webster's New World

Being more than one but indefinitely small in number.

Bowled a few strings.

American Heritage

Synonyms:

Antonyms:

Antonyms:
many
much

noun

An indefinitely small number of persons or things.

A few of the books have torn jackets.

American Heritage

An exclusive or limited number.

The discerning few; the fortunate few.

American Heritage

Synonyms:

pronoun

Not many; a small number.

Many left, few stayed; a few of the men are wearing hats.

Webster's New World

(UK) The pilots who fought in the Battle of Britain.

Wiktionary

Synonyms:

Synonyms:
a sprinkling
a couple
a minority
a smattering
a number that can be counted on one's fingers
a scattering
several
not too many
not so many as one might expect
three or four
hardly any
scarcely any
a handful
a small number
not many

Antonyms:

Antonyms:
much
many
a great many
a multitude

determiner

(preceded by another determiner) An indefinite, but usually small, number of.

I was expecting lots of people at the party, but very few (=almost none) turned up. Quite a few of them (=many of them) were pleasantly surprised. I don't know how many drinks I've had, but I've had a few. [This usage is likely ironic.]

Wiktionary

(used alone) Not many; a small (in comparison with another number stated or implied) but somewhat indefinite number of.

There are few people who understand quantum theory. Many are called, but few are chosen.

Wiktionary

(meteorology, of clouds) (US?) Obscuring one eighth to two eighths of the sky.

Tonight: A few clouds. Increasing cloudiness overnight.

NOAA definition of the term "few clouds": An official sky cover classification for aviation weather observations, descriptive of a sky cover of 1/8 to 2/8. This is applied only when obscuring phenomenon aloft are present--that is, not when obscuring phenomenon are surface-based, such as fog.

Wiktionary

(meteorology, of rainfall with regard to a location) (US?) Having a 10 percent chance of measurable precipitation (0.01 inch); used interchangeably with isolated.

Wiktionary

idiom

few and far between

scarce; rare

Webster's New World

the few

the minority; esp., a small, select group

Webster's New World

Idioms, Phrasal Verbs Related to Few

Origin of Few

From Middle English fewe (“few”), from Old English fēawa, fēawe, fēa (“few”), from Proto-Germanic *fawaz (“few”), from Proto-Indo-European *ph₁w- (“few, small”). Cognate with Old Saxon fā (“few”), Old High German fao, fō (“few, little”), Old Norse fár (“few”), Gothic (fawai, “few”), Latin paucus (“little, few”). More at poor.

From Wiktionary
From a speech by Winston Churchill that included the phrase "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few."

From Wiktionary
Middle English fewe from Old English fēawe pau-¹ in Indo-European roots

From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition