few-shot prompting
/ˌfjuː ʃɒt ˈprɒmptɪŋ/
providing a small number of examples in the prompt to demonstrate the desired behavior
few-shot prompting in a sentence
“Three labeled support tickets gave the model a few-shot pattern for classifying the rest.”
Origin of few-shot prompting
Old English feawe not many + shot attempt + Latin promptus ready
Related Words
in-context example
a demonstration included in the current input that guides a response without changing the model's parameters
counterexample
an example that disproves a general claim or shows what the desired output must avoid
edge case
an unusual but valid situation near a task's boundaries where normal assumptions may fail
delimiter
a character or marker that clearly separates instructions, examples, or data
prompt template
a reusable prompt structure with placeholders for task-specific information
clarification question
a focused question that resolves missing or ambiguous information before work continues