Search Result for "the few":

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Few \Few\ (f[=u]), a. [Compar. Fewer (f[=u]"[~e]r); superl. Fewest.] [OE. fewe, feawe, AS. fe['a], pl. fe['a]we; akin to OS. f[=a]h, OHG. f[=o] fao, Icel. f[=a]r, Sw. f[*a], 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. [1913 Webster] Few know and fewer care. --Proverb. [1913 Webster] Note: Few is often used partitively; as, few of them. [1913 Webster] 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. [1913 Webster]