few 
few (fyo̵̅o̅)
adjective
not many; a small number of few seats were left, a few people came
Etymology: ME fewe < OE feawe, feawa, pl., akin to OFris fē, Goth fawai, pl. < IE base *pōu-, small, little > L paucus, Gr pauros, little
not many; a small number many left, few stayed; a few of the men are wearing hats
Usage Note See the note at less
few and far between
scarce; rare
the few
the minority; esp., a small select group
few
modif.
Antonyms
few
pron.
Antonyms
quite a few
Preposition: at
- notice: Plus, I can make an extra few at short notice if you decide to invite a few more people.
Modifies a noun
- minute: A few minutes later he's got his head down, writing.
- month: Over the next few months, you'll hear about PCI Express.
- week: Lets see over the next few weeks what effect all our efforts have made.
- year: You are told you have just a few years, or months, to live.
- day: Over the last few days he had weakened rapidly.
- hour: Have you got a few hours a month to donate?
Modifying Another Word
- relatively: Even near the center and at the core there are relatively few awkward acute corners.
- very: In a game which caused them very few problems they won with a score of 15 - 3.
- far: Far fewer people even earned enough to pay direct taxes.
- too: The comment of the examiners was " Too few heads " .
- no: This year no fewer than five books dedicated to manners, and our apparent lack of them, have hit the book shops.
- so: Never have so many bits and pieces gone noticed by so few.
Used with adjective complement
- employ: This research deals with the views of the design sector where 56 % of the sector employs fewer than 5 people.
- choose: You can display your documents on the Internet or restrict access to a chosen few within a local area network.
- have: The ponds are mainly seasonal and have few, if any, fish as they tend to dry up in the summer months.
Preposition: in
- number: Epidemiological studies by contrast are fragmented and few in number.
Preposition: of
- benefit: Just a few of the benefits include free entry to Benmore, Dawyck and Logan Botanic Gardens, and to member-only events.
Preposition: than
Democracy substitutes election by the incompetent many for appointment by the corrupt few.
All governments use force and all assert that they are founded on reason. In fact, whether universal suffrage prevails or not, it is always an oligarchy that governs, finding ways to give to'the will of the people'the expression which the few desire.
And Jacobsaid unto Pharaoh,The days oftheyears of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years: fewand evil have the days of the years of my life been, and have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.
Here's tae us; wha's like us? Gey few, and they're a'deid.
Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them; While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, be not darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain: In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease because theyare few, and those that look out of the windows be darkened, And the doors shall be shut in the streets, when the sound of the grinding is low, and he shall rise up at the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of musick shall be brought low: Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fears shall be in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail: because man goeth to his long home, and mournersgo about the streets: Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern. Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
He rather hated the ruling few than loved the suffering many.
Never in the field of human conflict has so much been owed by so many, to so few.
'Tis grown almost a danger to speak true Of any good mind, now:There are so few.
The best that an American can look forward to is the lonely pleasure of one who stands at long last on a chilly and inhospitable mountain top where few have been, where few can follow, and where few will consent to believe that he has been.
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