Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Amounting to or consisting of a small number.
- adjective Being more than one but indefinitely small in number.
- noun An indefinitely small number of persons or things.
- noun An exclusive or limited number.
- pronoun A small number of persons or things.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Not many; a small number; only a small number.
- noun Not many; only a small number (of persons or things): in this use properly an adjective, used elliptically as a plural noun, and not preceded by the article.
- noun A small number; a minority: in this sense preceded by the article a (originally in the plural) or the, with or without a noun following, the noun, if used, expressing the whole of which the few are taken, and being in the partitive genitive, with or without the preposition of: as, a few, or a few members, or a few of the members, dissented.
- noun A small quantity or portion; a little: followed by a noun (without of) in a construction similar to def. 2 and to that of little, n.
- noun See II., 3.
- noun Adv. phr. Somewhat; to some slight extent: often used ironically for a good deal.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Not many; small, limited, or confined in number; -- indicating a small portion of units or individuals constituting a whole; often, by ellipsis of a noun, a few people.
- adjective a small number.
- adjective in a few words; briefly.
- adjective not few; more than a few; many.
- adjective the minority; -- opposed to
the many orthe majority .
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- determiner preceded by another determiner An
indefinite , but usuallysmall ,number of. - determiner used alone Not
many ; a small (in comparison with another number stated or implied) but somewhat indefinite number of. - determiner meteorology, of clouds (US?) Obscuring one eighth to two eighths of the sky.
- determiner meteorology, of rainfall with regard to a location (US?) Having a 10 percent chance of measurable precipitation (0.01 inch); used interchangeably with
isolated . - pronoun Few people, few things.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective a quantifier that can be used with count nouns and is often preceded by `a'; a small but indefinite number
- noun a small elite group
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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-- A few, a very _few_ weeks, and I am gone from him forever.
Barford Abbey Susannah Minific Gunning
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+Adversative+, meaning of (note) _A few, a little_, vs. _few_ and _little_
Higher Lessons in English A work on english grammar and composition Brainerd Kellogg
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And even when these few were gathered together, and under the extraordinary effusion of the Holy Spirit, many were added to them, and "the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and one soul," they were still comparatively but a _few_.
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I wish I could place every one before my readers to receive the meed of praise she so richly deserves; only a few, _very few_, names now occur to me.
Memories A Record of Personal Experience and Adventure During Four Years of War Fannie A. Beers
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It is true, there were a few scraps of putrid fish in the boat, and Tom had found a fishing-line under the bottom-boards forward, so that, having a line and the wherewithal to bait it, they might possibly succeed in catching a _few_ fish.
The Voyage of the Aurora Harry Collingwood 1886
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The Saxon _few_ may have caught enough from its French cousin _peu_ to claim the benefit of the same doubt as to sound; and our slang phrase _a few_ (as 'I licked him a few') may well appeal to _un peu_ for sense and authority.
The Complete Poetical Works of James Russell Lowell James Russell Lowell 1855
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In one part of Tartary, there is a chain of mountains, and there are a few towns, and trees, but _very few_.
Far Off Favell Lee Mortimer 1840
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Our sage critics are not aware how many and whom they include in the denunciation of 'a few men who _pretend_ to all the knowledge, all the wisdom of the country; 'if by a _few_ they mean all who have spoken in the most favorable terms of Mr. Schoolcraft's book.
Personal Memoirs of a Residence of Thirty Years with the Indian Tribes on the American Frontiers Henry Rowe Schoolcraft 1828
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A few, _very few_ more opportunities for prayer, and reconciliation with God, and your account is sealed up.
The National Preacher, Vol. 2 No. 7 Dec. 1827 Or Original Monthly Sermons from Living Ministers, Sermons XXVI. and XXVII. Austin Dickinson 1814
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Estimated time to implement Power Point in your centre •few weeks to come up with all your templates • few months for all staff members to feel comfortable
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