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precious

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precious few

 and precious little

very few; very little. (Few for people or things that can be counted, and little for amounts.) We get precious few tourists here in the winter. There's precious little food in the house and there is no money.

See also: few, precious

Time is money.

(My) time is valuable, so don't waste it. I can't afford to spend a lot of time standing here talking. Time is money, you know! People who keep saying time is money may be working too hard.

See also: money, time

precious few

Also, precious little. Very few, very little, as in There are precious few leaves left on the trees, or We have precious little fuel left. In these idioms precious serves as an intensive, a colloquial usage dating from the first half of the 1800s.

See also: few, precious

time is money

One's time is a valuable commodity, as in I can't stay home and wait any longer; time is money, you know. This proverbial term goes back to one first recorded in 1572, time is precious, in a discourse on usury.

See also: money, time