millionmil‧lion /ˈmɪljən/ ●●● S3 W1 number (plural million or millions) 
The book sold more than a million copies.two/three/four etc million seven million dollars £37 million of new investmentmillions of pounds/dollars etc Millions of pounds were lost in Western aid.2an extremely large number of people or thingsa million I’ve got a million ideas.millions of something She has millions of friends.3not/never in a million years spoken used to emphasize that something is impossible or very unlikely to happen: She’ll never believe me. Not in a million years.4look/feel like a million dollars/bucks informal especially American English to look very attractive or feel very happy and healthy5in a million informal a)the best of all possible people or things: She’s a wife in a million. He’s so generous. He’s one in a million. b)used to show how unlikely something is: It was a chance in a million that we’d find a fossil.—millionth adjective: The park has just received its millionth visitor.—millionth noun [countable]
WORD ORIGINmillion
Origin:
1300-1400 French, Old Italian milione, from mille ‘thousand’, from Latin; ➔ MILLI-EXAMPLES FROM THE CORPUS
- By April 1981 the lake had a hundred million weevils, but in August came disaster.
- It sought a $ 400 million judgment.
- Jim sits in front of four computer screens, controlling de-inking equipment that cost $ 42 million to install.
- Latinos, with 2 million voters in California, are the fastest-growing minority in the country.
- Simons also is trying to find corporate donors to buy a $ 2. 5 million video scoreboard.
- The $ 150 million bond has not yet been priced, said spokeswoman Mercedes Poblete.
- The derivatives trading business lost $ 32 million in the quarter, compared with $ 28 million in profits a year earlier.
Longman Language Activatorto make someone feel nervous
not once, or not at any time: · "Have you ever been to Paris?" "No, never."· Ali had never seen snow before.· The view was spectacular - I'll never forget it.· He walks right past me and never even says "hello".never do/say etc something: · (=used to tell someone not to do something) Never go there alone at night.never have I/did he etc (=used for emphasis) formal: · Never in my whole life have I felt so angry.
not at any time: · I haven't ever had champagne before.· Don't ever do that again.· "I won't leave you," she said, "not ever."
spoken say this when you want to emphasize strongly that something has never happened or will never happen: · You must never ever tell anyone what you heard tonight.· I'll never, never stop loving you.
spoken informal say this when you think it is completely impossible that something could ever happen: · You won't get Kieran to agree - not in a million years!
say this when you are surprised or annoyed because someone never did something, although they often had the opportunity to do it: · After all the help I've given her, she's never said thank you - not once!· My father hasn't once come here to see us, even though he lives quite nearby.not once have I/did they etc (=used for emphasis) formal: · Not once did she think of giving up, despite all the problems involved.
if you say you never for a moment thought something, you are emphasizing that this idea never came into your mind: · I always knew that I would be famous one day. I never for a moment doubted it at all.· "Did you ever suspect that he was cheating on you?" "No, not for one moment."never for a moment have I/did they etc (=used for emphasis) formal: · Never for a moment did it enter my mind that something was wrong.
formal never in the past: at no time have I/did they etc: · At no time did anyone suggest that the drug was dangerous.· Despite what I'd been told about the local people's attitude to strangers, at no time did I encounter any rudeness.
you say that someone or something has never been known to do something when you mean that this has never happened before, so it is strange if it happens now: · We were very worried -- Peter had never been known to disappear from home before.· Killer whales have never been known to attack humans without the provocation of a bullet or harpoon.
WORD SETSadd, verbaddition, nounArabic numeral, nounarithmetic progression, nounbi-, prefixbillion, numbercalculate, verbcalculation, nouncardinal, nouncardinal number, nouncoefficient, nouncommon denominator, nounconstant, nouncube, verbcube root, nounD, noundecimal, noundecimal, adjectivedecimal point, noundemi-, prefixdenominator, noundigit, noundivide, verbdividend, noundivisible, adjectivedivision, noundivisor, noundouble-digit, adjectivedouble figures, nouneight, numbereighteen, numbereighth, adjectiveeighty, numbereleven, numberequal, adjectiveequal, verbequals sign, nouneven, adjectiveexponent, nounfactor, nounfactor, verbfactorial, nounfifteen, numberfifth, nounfifty, numberfig., figure, nounfive, numberforty, numberfour, numberfourteen, numberfourth, nounfraction, noungeometric progression, noungross, nounHCF, hundred, numberimproper fraction, nounindivisible, adjectiveinfinity, nouninteger, nounL, nounlogarithm, nounlowest common denominator, nounM, nounmedian, nounmedian, adjectivemillion, numbermultiple, nounmultiplication, nounmultiplication sign, nounmultiplication table, noun-nd, suffixnegative, adjectivenine, numbernineteen, numberninety, numberninth, adjectiveNo., nos., nothing, pronounnought, numbernumber, nounnumeral, nounnumerator, nounnumerical, adjectiveO, nounoblique, nounone, numberordinal number, nounpi, nounplot, verbplus, prepositionpoint, nounpositive, adjectiveprime number, nounproduct, nounproper fraction, nounproportion, nounquadr-, prefixquadrillion, numberquadruple, adjectivequotient, noun-rd, suffixroman numeral, nounroot, nounround, adjectivescore, numbersecond, numberserial number, nounset, nounsingle figures, nounsix, numbersixteen, numbersixty, numbersquare, nounsquare, verbsquared, adjectivesquare root, noun-st, suffixsubtract, verbsum, nountake, verbten, numbertenth, adjectivetertiary, adjectivetetra-, prefixthirteen, numberthirty, numberthousand, numberthree, numberthree-quarter, adjectivethreescore, numbertreble, determinertri-, prefixtrillion, numbertwelve, numbertwenty, numbertwice, adverbunit, nounV, nounvulgar fraction, nounwhole number, nounX, nounzero, number
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY seven million dollars £37 million of new investment Millions of pounds were lost in Western aid. He’s so generous. He’s one in a million. It was a chance in a million that we’d find a fossil.COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES military equipment worth many millions of dollars
seven million dollars £37 million of new investment Millions of pounds were lost in Western aid. He’s so generous. He’s one in a million. It was a chance in a million that we’d find a fossil. (=when something is extremely unlikely)· It must have been a million-to-one chance that we’d meet.
· She is believed to have a £25 million fortune.
military equipment worth many millions of dollarsPHRASES FROM THE ENTRYPHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES► feel/look like a million bucks► a cool million/hundred thousand etc► to the tune of $1,000/£2 million etc► in the vicinity of £3 million/$1,500/2 billion years etc
1the number 1,000,000: - I never would have guessed in a million years!
- Never in a million years did I think we'd lose.
- He was rich as Croesus, something he had never expected to be, not in a million years.
- I still had to find Wally and attempt to explain what I would never in a million years be able to explain.
- It is based on a true story so outrageous that it would never in a million years have passed muster as fiction.
- No parent is going to believe this pigtail story, not in a million years.
- The real reason for her lack of promotion, she knew, would never in a million years occur to him.
- You'd never in a million years see a dancing man in a field in the country.
- I felt like a million dollars.
- I still had to find Wally and attempt to explain what I would never in a million years be able to explain.
- It is based on a true story so outrageous that it would never in a million years have passed muster as fiction.
- She had never, in a million years, meant to take Gesner seriously.
- The chance of getting infected from a pint of blood is less than 1 in a million.
- The die-hards will frown but Burton will prove to be a man in a million.
- The last two columns give the production and export rates in 1975 in million tons.
- They find it useful to know where, in a million lines of group-written programming code, the areas of churn are.
- You won't get Kieran to agree - not in a million years!
- He was rich as Croesus, something he had never expected to be, not in a million years.
- I still had to find Wally and attempt to explain what I would never in a million years be able to explain.
- It is based on a true story so outrageous that it would never in a million years have passed muster as fiction.
- Never. Not in a million years.
- No parent is going to believe this pigtail story, not in a million years.
- The real reason for her lack of promotion, she knew, would never in a million years occur to him.
- There was no point in all of this: she would never believe him. Not in a million years.
- You'd never in a million years see a dancing man in a field in the country.
The book sold more than a million copies.two/three/four etc million seven million dollars £37 million of new investmentmillions of pounds/dollars etc Millions of pounds were lost in Western aid.2an extremely large number of people or thingsa million I’ve got a million ideas.millions of something She has millions of friends.3not/never in a million years spoken used to emphasize that something is impossible or very unlikely to happen: She’ll never believe me. Not in a million years.4look/feel like a million dollars/bucks informal especially American English to look very attractive or feel very happy and healthy5in a million informal a)the best of all possible people or things: She’s a wife in a million. He’s so generous. He’s one in a million. b)used to show how unlikely something is: It was a chance in a million that we’d find a fossil.—millionth adjective: The park has just received its millionth visitor.—millionth noun [countable]