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number Definition

num·ber (num′bər)

noun

  1. a symbol or word, or a group of either of these, showing how many or which one in a series: 1, 2, 10, 101 (one, two, ten, one hundred and one) are called cardinal numbers; 1st, 2d, 10th, 101st (first, second, tenth, one hundred and first) are called ordinal numbers
  2. arithmetic
  3. the sum or total of persons or units; aggregate
  4. a collection of persons or things; company; assemblage a small number of people
    1. a large group; many cut down numbers of trees
    2. numerical superiority safety in numbers
    3. ☆ statistics, ratings, etc. the pitcher's salary will be based on last year's numbers
  6. quantity, as consisting of units a number of errors
  7. one of a series or group that is numbered or thought of as numbered; specif.,
    1. a single issue of a periodical the winter number of a quarterly
    2. a single song, dance, skit, etc. in a program of entertainment
    3. ☆ Slang a pattern of behavior or thought, esp. one characteristic of a particular individual, group, etc.
  8. Informal a person or thing singled out this hat is a smart number
  9. Gram.
    1. a characteristic, as of nouns and verbs, indicating whether a given utterance involves reference to one or more than one entity, or, in some languages, to exactly two; also, an analytic category based on this characteristic
    2. the form a word takes to indicate this characteristic
    3. any of the sets of such forms
  10. Obsolete
    1. metrical form; meter
    2. metrical lines; verses

Etymology: ME nombre < OE < L numerus: see -nomy

transitive verb

  1. to total the number of persons or things in; count; enumerate
  2. to give a number to; designate by number
  3. to include as one of a group, class, or category numbered among the missing
  4. to fix or limit the number or the duration of his days are numbered
  5. to have or comprise; total a library numbering 10,000 volumes

Etymology: ME nombren < OFr nombrer < L numerare, to count < numerus

intransitive verb

  1. to total; count; enumerate
  2. to be numbered; be included

number Related Forms
num′·berer noun
number Idioms

a number of

an unspecified number of; several or many

beyond number

too numerous to be counted

by the numbers

☆
  1. Mil. in prescribed sequence of movements and accompanied by a count
  2. in a mechanical, unthinking way

do a number on

☆

Slang to abuse or mistreat in some way, as by injuring, disparaging, cheating, or humiliating

get (or have) someone's number

☆

Slang to discover (or know) someone's true character or motives

someone's number is up

Slang someone's time to die or suffer punishment has arrived

the numbers

☆

an illegal lottery in which small bets are placed on the order of certain numbers, usually the last three, in some tabulation of game scores or financial reports published in the daily newspapers

without number

too numerous to be counted

number Synonyms

number

n.

  1. A quantity

    amount, sum total, totality, aggregate, whole, whole number, product, measurable quantity, recorded total, estimate, the lot, conglomeration, plenty, manifoldness, plenitude, abundance; see also quantity.

  2. A representation of quantity

    numeral, digit, figure, cipher, integer, fraction, cardinal number, ordinal number, Roman numeral, Arabic numeral, character, sign, emblem; see also representation, symbol.

beyond number

too many to count, too much to count, innumerable, countless; see many.

get <strong>or </strong>have one's number*

discover one's true character, find out about, know; see understand 1.

one's number is up*

one's time to die has arrived, one's time has come, one's destiny is fulfilled; see doomed.

without number

too numerous to be counted, innumerable, countless; see many.

number Synonyms

number

v.

calculate, enumerate, estimate, amount to; see add 1, count, total 1.

number Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • increase: The Tories were strongly opposed to increasing the number of people who could vote.
  • reduce: There are no plans for Scotland to reduce the number of overall training posts available in August 2007.
  • grow: This has been prompted by periodic complaints made by the general public over the growing number of products of unknown source in the market.
  • contain: Each qualification contains a number of units from the appropriate National Occupational Standard.

Converse of subject

  • divide: Tests of divisibility Or how can we tell if a number can be divided exactly by another number?

Adjective modifier

  • large: In addition, a large number our students go on to study higher degrees.
  • total: The home page indicates the total number of visitors to the site.
  • small: There are a small number of providers in Northern Ireland who offer packages for field sports enthusiasts.
  • limited: The University has a limited number of flats suitable for couples or families.
  • maximum: For small L the number S of surviving opinions is seen to be slightly below 10, the usual maximum number of opinions.
  • significant: A significant number of students who say they are pro-life think abortion should be legal in some circumstances.

Modifies a noun

  • plate: Even more telling, the car's number plate is SB 192!
  • one: Whether innocent or guilty these families will find their business spread over the papers, becoming public enemy number one.

Noun used with modifier

  • telephone: For ordering details please see telephone contact numbers at the bottom.
  • phone: Please include your address and phone number although these will not be published.
  • reference: All our school records have reference numbers beginning with ESR.
  • registration: You can help police by getting a good description of the person and by noting down the registration number of any suspicious vehicles.
  • fax: The telephone and fax numbers are as previously advised.
  • contact: For ordering details please see telephone contact numbers at the bottom.

Preposition: of

  • people: There were no arrests, however a number of people will be reported to the Director of Public Prosecution.
number Quotes

The best number fora dinner party istwoömyself and a damn good head waiter.

—Gulbenkian, Nubar Sarkis

I think business is very simple.Profit. Loss. Take the sales, subtract the costs, you get this big positive number. The math is quite straightforward.

—Gates, Bill (William Henry III)

Well, if I called the wrong number, why did you answer the phone?

—Thurber,James Grover

   To begin with, I was born with an unreasonably large stock of relations, who have increased and multiplied ever since. My aunts and uncles were legion, and my cousins as the sands of the sea without number. Consequently, even a low death-rate meant, in the course of mere natural decay, a tolerably steady supply of funerals for a by no means affectionate but exceedingly clannish family to go to. Add to this that the town we lived in, being divided in religious opinion, buried its dead in two great cemeteries, each of which was held by the opposite faction to be the ante- chamber of perdition, and by its own patrons to be the gate of paradise.

—Shaw, George Bernard

Instead of using onlycomparativeWords and intellectual Arguments, I have taken the course†to express myself inTerms of Number,Weight, or Measure; to use only Arguments of Sense, and to consider only such Causes, as have visible Foundations in Nature.

—Petty, Sir William

I believe every human has a finite number of heart- beats.I don't intend towasteanyof minerunning around doing exercises.

—Armstrong, Neil A(lden)

Amar es combatir, es abrir puertas, dejar de ser fantasma con un n u¤ mero a perpetua cadena condenado por un amo sin rostro. To love is to battle, to open doors, to cease to be a ghost with a number forever in chains, forever condemned by a faceless master.

—Paz, Octavio

C'est un axiome de la science politique aux EŁ  tats-Unis, que le seul moyen de neutraliser les effets des journaux est d'en multiplier le nombre. It isanaxiomof politicsinthe United States, thatthe only means of neutralising the effects of newspapers is to increase their number.

—Tocqueville, Alexis Charles Henri Cle¤  rel de

There is a formal poetry perfect only in form†the number of syllables, the designated and required stresses of accent, the rhymes if wantedöthey come off with the skill of a solved crossword puzzle.

—Sandburg, Carl

And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.

—Bible (NewTestament)

   He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names.

—Bible (Old Testament)

Since we are assured that the all-wise Creator has observed the most exact proportions of number, weight and measureinthemake ofall things, themost likely way therefore to get any insight into the nature of those parts ofthe Creationwhich come withinourobservation must

—Hales, Stephen

The number of people who can copulate properly may be few; the number who can write well are infinitely fewer.

—Grieve

Onthisnext number Iwant youall tojoinin.Would those in the cheap seats clap their hands? The rest of you can rattle your jewellery.

—Lennon,JohnWinston

So teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.

—Bible (Old Testament)