Few (?), a. [Compar. Fewer (?); superl. Fewest.] [OE. fewe, feawe, AS. fe , pl. fe we; akin to OS. fah, OHG. fµ fao, Icel. far, Sw. f†, pl., Dan. faa, pl., Goth. faus, L. paucus, cf. Gr. . Cf. Paucity.]
Not many; small, limited, or confined in number; -- indicating a small portion of units or individuals constituing a whole; often, by ellipsis of a noun, a few people.
"Are not my days few?"
Job x. 20.
Few know and fewer care.
Proverb.
⇒ Few is often used partitively; as, few of them.
A few, a small number. -- In few, in a few words; briefly.
Shak.
- No few, not few; more than a few; many.
Cowper.
- The few, the minority; -- opposed to the many or the majority.
© Webster 1913.