Fewer/less than a dozen (people)

Question

Adjective [a compar. of] little [with] least [as superl.]

fewer: less than a dozen.

https://www.wordreference.com/definition/less

A dozen is semantically plural ("twelve") yet it is grammatically singular, so which form is correct fewer/less than a dozen?
Secondly, what about Fewer/less than a dozen people?

Determiner (preceded by a or a numeral):
a.) (a group of) twelve: two dozen oranges.
b.) (as pronoun; functioning as sing or plural) There are at least
a dozen who haven't arrived yet.
https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/dozen

JTP - Apologise to Monica · Answer

"A Dozen" literally means "12". They are interchangeable in every context, even if it sound odd for phrases we are used to. The movie, "The Dirty 12"? "Ocean's Dozen"?
12 is a counting number, an integer. Fewer than 12. Fewer than a dozen. To be precisely correct. Even so, there will be time 'less than' sounds ok. "I'm less than a dozen miles from home, please turn the lights on."

Greybeard · Answer

A dozen is either 12 items seen individually, or a group of twelve items seen as one unit.
Which interpretation you intend

Fewer/less than a dozen people?

will dictate whether you use "fewer" or "less"

Fewer/less than a dozen (people)

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