few Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a small elite group
    • it was designed for the discriminating few
  2. adjective 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

WordNet

Few adjective
Etymology
OE. fewe, feawe, AS. feá, pl. feáwe; akin to OS. fah, OHG. f* fao, Icel. far, Sw. få, pl., Dan. faa, pl., Goth. faus, L. paucus, cf. Gr. . Cf. Paucity.
Wordforms
comparative Fewer ; superlative Fewest
Definitions
  1. 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. Shak. Cowper.

Webster 1913