- a fewa small number of people, things or places; some
- I recognized a few of the other people.
- I've seen most of his movies. Only a few are as good as his first one.
- Could you give me a few more details?
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- not many people, things or places
- Very few of his books are worth reading.
- You can pass with as few as 25 points.
- (formal) Few will argue with this conclusion.
- fewernot as many as
- Fewer than 20 students passed all the exams.
- There are no fewer than 100 different species in the area.
- the fewused with a plural verb to mean ‘a small group of people’
- Real power belongs to the few.
- She was one of the chosen few (= the small group with special rights).
Word OriginOld English fēawe, fēawa, of Germanic origin; related to Old High German fao, from an Indo-European root shared by Latin paucus and Greek pauros ‘small’.
Idioms
See few in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee few in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic Englishhave had a few
- (informal) to have had enough alcohol to make you drunk
quite a few
(British English also a good few, a fair few)
- a fairly large number
- I've been there quite a few times.
Check pronunciation:
few