Few (fū), a. [Compar.Fewer (?); superl.Fewest.] [OE. fewe, feawe, AS. feá, pl. feáwe; akin to OS. fāh, OHG. fōfao, Icel. fār, Sw. få, pl., Dan. faa, pl., Goth. faus, L. paucus, cf. Gr. παυ̑ροσ. 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.
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.