Few (fū), a. [Compar. Fewer (fū&etilde_;r); superl. Fewest.] [OE. fewe, feawe, AS. feá, pl. feáwe; akin to OS. fāh, OHG. fō fao, Icel. fār, Sw. få, pl., Dan. faa, pl., Goth. faus, L. paucus, cf. Gr. pay^ros. Cf. Paucity.] 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. “Are not my days few?” Job x. 20.
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Few know and fewer care. Proverb.
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&hand_; Few is often used partitively; as, few of them.
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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.
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