Definition of "few" in English

determiner

1. (preceded by another determiner) An indefinite, but usually small, number of.

   • There are a few cars (=some, but a relatively small number) in the street.
   • Quite a few people (=a significant number) were pleasantly surprised.
   • I think he's had a few drinks.
   • The few cheapest hotels I could find are the farthest too.

2. (used alone) Not many; a small (in comparison with another number stated or implied) but somewhat indefinite number of.

   • Very few did she have not to go there, did she?
   • I was expecting a big crowd at the party, but very few people (=almost none) turned up.

3. (meteorology, of clouds) Obscuring one to two oktas (eighths) of the sky.

   • Tonight: A few clouds. Increasing cloudiness overnight.
   • NOAA definition of the term few clouds: An official sky cover classification for aviation weather observations, descriptive of a sky cover of 1/8 to 2/8. This is applied only when obscuring phenomena aloft are present--that is, not when obscuring phenomena are surface-based, such as fog.

4. (meteorology, of rainfall with regard to a location) (US?) Having a 10 percent chance of measurable precipitation (0.01 inch); used interchangeably with isolated.

pronoun

1. Few people, few things.

   • Many are called, but few are chosen.