Much, considerably, a good deal; also, a little. The first two quotations, from ‘The New English Dictionary,’ illustrate these contrary uses. See also quot. 1849. Obsolete in England.
1761. I throw my eyes about a few.—A Murphy, ‘The Citizen,’ II. i. 1.
1778. Your letter, which diverted him not a few.—Susan Burney, Letter in Madame D’Arblay’s ‘Diary.’
1825. You shall hear him talk a few, in his own way.—What’s your name, Cuffee?—John Neal, ‘Brother Jonathan,’ ii. 301.
1825. You’ve grown a few since I saw you.—Id., ii. 443.
1835. He stopped by the way at a house of refreshment, to fortify a few.—Vermont Free Press, Jan. 24.
1841. Sally could not help chiming in with me, and I rather guess Miss Patty suffered a few.—John Neal, ‘John Beedle’s Sleigh Ride, Courtship, and Marriage,’ p. 19.
1842. I thought I’d put up at a hotel and git a good sleep, for I felt tired a few, I tell you.—Spirit of the Times, Phila., Jan. 10.
1845. He had suffered a few, and no mistake.—St. Louis Reveille, Sept. 1.
1848. Cautioning the embracers of beauty to look well, or they may get scratched a few.—Dow, Jun., ‘Patent Sermons,’ i. 156.
1848.
| And when the news was brought to me, | |
| I felt almighty blue; | |
| And though I didn’t shed no tear, | |
| Perhaps I cussed ‘a few.’ | |
Durivage and Burnham, ‘Stray Subjects, Love in the Bowery,’ p. 109. |
1849. It is apparent that he understands English only ‘a few.’—Knickerbocker Mag., xxxiv. 92 (July).
1851. He’s a few! well he is. Jewhilliken, how he could whip er nigger! and swar! whew!—‘Polly Peablossom’s Wedding,’ &c. (Phila.), p. 52.
1856. ‘Does she write?’ ‘A few, I should say. Your uncle read the proofs of her first novel.’—Knickerbocker Mag., xlvii. 406 (April).
1862. If we carry our scalps out, we may be thankful a few.—Harper’s Weekly, p. 362, June 7.
