different between few vs litter
few
English
Etymology
From Middle English fewe, from Old English f?aw (“few”), from Proto-Germanic *fawaz (“few”), from Proto-Indo-European *peh?w- (“few, small”). Cognate with Old Saxon f? (“few”), Old High German fao, f? (“few, little”), Old Norse fár (“few”), Gothic ???????????????? (faus, “few”), Latin paucus (“little, few”) (whence English pauper, poor etc.). More at poor.
Pronunciation
- (UK)
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /fju?/
- (US) IPA(key): /fju/
- Rhymes: -u?
- Homophone: phew
Determiner
few (comparative fewer or less, superlative fewest or least)
- (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.
- I was expecting a big crowd at the party, but very few people (=almost none) turned up.
- Quite a few people (=a significant number) were pleasantly surprised.
- I think he's had a few drinks. [This usage is likely ironic.]
- (used alone) Not many; a small (in comparison with another number stated or implied) but somewhat indefinite number of.
- (meteorology, of clouds) Obscuring one to two oktas (eighths) of the sky.
- 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.
- (meteorology, of rainfall with regard to a location) (US?) Having a 10 percent chance of measurable precipitation (0.01 inch); used interchangeably with isolated.
Usage notes
- Few is used with plural nouns only; its synonymous counterpart little is used with uncountable nouns.
- Although indefinite in nature, a few is usually more than two (two often being referred to as "a couple of"), and less than "several". If the sample population is say between 5 and 20, a few would mean three or four, but no more than this. However, if the population sample size were in the millions, "a few" could refer to several hundred items. In other words, few in this context means a very very small percentage but far more than the 3 or 4 usually ascribed to it in its use with much much smaller numbers.
- Few is grammatically affirmative but semantically negative, and it can license negative polarity items. For example, anything usually cannot be used in affirmative sentences, but can be used in sentences with few.
- He didn't do anything to help us.
- *He did anything to help us. (ungrammatical)
- Few people did anything to help us.
- *A few people did anything to help us. (ungrammatical, since a few is a different unit of meaning from few and does not license NPIs)
- Few alone emphasises smallness of number, while a few emphasises some. For example: He's a dull man with few ideas; He's a clever man with a few ideas.
Synonyms
- little (see usage)
Antonyms
- many
Derived terms
- a few
- a good few
- quite a few
Related terms
- paucity
- poor
Translations
Pronoun
few
- Few people, few things.
- Many are called, but few are chosen.
Antonyms
- many
Translations
References
- Meteorology (both senses)
- NOAA Glossary: f
Middle English
Determiner
few
- Alternative form of fewe
few From the web:
- what fewer means
- what few means
- what fewer
- what fewest mean
- what few days means
- what few companies own everything
- what few hours mean
- what few weeks means
litter
English
Etymology
From French litière, from lit (“bed”), from Latin lectus; confer Ancient Greek ??????? (léktron). Had the sense ‘bed’ in very early English, but then came to mean ‘portable couch’, ‘bedding’, ‘strewn rushes (for animals)’, etc.
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /?l?t?(?)/
- (US) IPA(key): /?l?t?/, [?l???]
- Rhymes: -?t?(r)
- Homophone: lidder (US)
Noun
litter (countable and uncountable, plural litters)
- (countable) A platform mounted on two shafts, or a more elaborate construction, designed to be carried by two (or more) people to transport one (in luxury models sometimes more) third person(s) or (occasionally in the elaborate version) a cargo, such as a religious idol.
- (collective, countable) The offspring of a mammal born in one birth.
- (uncountable) Material used as bedding for animals.
- (uncountable) Collectively, items discarded on the ground.
- 1730, Jonathan Swift, s:The Lady's Dressing Room
- Strephon [...] / Stole in, and took a strict survey / Of all the litter as it lay.
- 1730, Jonathan Swift, s:The Lady's Dressing Room
- (uncountable) Absorbent material used in an animal's litter tray
- (uncountable) Layer of fallen leaves and similar organic matter in a forest floor.
- A covering of straw for plants.
Synonyms
- (platform designed to carry a person or a load): palanquin, sedan chair, stretcher, cacolet
- (items discarded on the ground): waste, rubbish, garbage (US), trash (US), junk
Derived terms
Translations
Verb
litter (third-person singular simple present litters, present participle littering, simple past and past participle littered)
- (intransitive) To drop or throw trash without properly disposing of it (as discarding in public areas rather than trash receptacles).
- (transitive) To scatter carelessly about.
- (transitive) To strew (a place) with scattered articles.
- (transitive) To give birth to, used of animals.
- (intransitive) To produce a litter of young.
- (transitive) To supply (cattle etc.) with litter; to cover with litter, as the floor of a stall.
- 1693, John Hacket, Scrinia reserata: a Memorial offered to the great Deservings of John Williams
- Tell them how they litter their jades.
- For his ease, well litter'd was the floor.
- 1693, John Hacket, Scrinia reserata: a Memorial offered to the great Deservings of John Williams
- (intransitive) To be supplied with litter as bedding; to sleep or make one's bed in litter.
- 1634, William Habington, Castara
- The inn where he and his horse litter'd.
- 1634, William Habington, Castara
Derived terms
- litterer
Translations
Anagrams
- retilt, tilter, titler
Norman
Etymology
From Old French luitier, loitier, luiter (compare French lutter), from Vulgar Latin luct?re, from Latin luctor, luct?r? (“struggle, wrestle, fight”).
Verb
litter
- (Jersey) to wrestle
Derived terms
- litteux (“wrestler”)
litter From the web:
- what litter is best for kittens
- what litter to use for rabbits
- what litter is best for cats
- what litter to use with litter robot
- what litter to use for kittens
- what litter to use after declawing
- what littering does to the environment
- what litter box is best for kittens
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