Word forms: plural thousandslanguage note: The plural form is thousand after a number, or after a word or expression referring to a number, such as 'several'or 'a few'.
1. number
Athousand or onethousand is the number 1,000.
...five thousand acres.
Visitors can expect to pay about a thousand pounds a day.
2. quantifier
If you refer to thousands of things or people, you are emphasizing that there are very many of them.
[emphasis]
Thousands of commuters are packed into over-crowded trains every day. [+ of]
I must have driven past that place thousands of times.
You can also use thousands as a pronoun.
Hundreds have been killed in the fighting and thousands made homeless.
3. a thousand and one
thousand in British English
(ˈθaʊzənd)
noun
1.
the cardinal number that is the product of 10 and 100
See also number (sense 1)
2.
a numeral, 1000, 103, M, etc, representing this number
3. (often plural)
a very large but unspecified number, amount, or quantity
they are thousands of miles away
4. (plural)
the numbers 2000–9999
the price of the picture was in the thousands
5.
the amount or quantity that is one hundred times greater than ten
6.
something represented by, representing, or consisting of 1000 units
7. mathematics
the position containing a digit representing that number followed by three zeros
in 4760, 4 is in the thousand's place
determiner
8.
a.
amounting to a thousand
a thousand ships
b.
(as pronoun)
a thousand is hardly enough
9.
amounting to 1000 times a particular scientific unit
▶ Related prefix: ▶ Related adjective: kilo-, millenary
Word origin
Old English thūsend; related to Old Saxon thūsind, Old High German thūsunt, Old Norse thūsund
thousand in American English
(ˈθaʊzənd)
noun
1.
ten hundred; 1,000; M
2.
an indefinite but very large number
a hyperbolic use
adjective
3.
amounting to one thousand in number
Word origin
ME thusend < OE, akin to Ger tausend < PGmc *thus-hundi, “many hundred” < IE base *tēu-, to swell, increase + PGmc *hund-, hundred
Examples of 'thousand' in a sentence
thousand
Workers claim that they will be tens of thousands of pounds out of pocket.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
It has more than a dozen main stages and covers tens of thousands of square feet.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
There are thousands of people like me.
The Sun (2016)
So are thousands of miles of glorious coastline.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Cancer patients will be asked to pay thousands of pounds to test new drug treatments under a controversial trial.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Foreign banks are likely to move thousands of jobs abroad over the next couple of years while uncertainty reigns.
Times, Sunday Times (2017)
This bill could be the next great social reform and make a difference to the lives of thousands of homeless people.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
At first, three thousand quid sounds like quite a lot.
The Sun (2016)
They also collected thousands of skulls and bones, attempting to address basic questions about race.
Smithsonian Mag (2017)
Thousands of votes should count for more than thousands of pounds.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Tens of thousands of farmers have taken their own lives.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
Thousands of people are trying to do just that.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
There is no other way of sustaining so many troops thousands of miles from home.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
It was terrible to be thousands of miles away.
The Sun (2012)
Thousands are also doing the rounds on viral emails.
The Sun (2009)
The management has tried to keep the operation going by cutting costs and shedding thousands of jobs.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
There was more than enough to feed the five thousand.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
Thousands were left homeless as towns were flattened in the disaster.
The Sun (2009)
That means sellers can get their homes listed on top property portals without paying thousands of pounds.
The Sun (2013)
Hundreds of thousands were caught up in the chaos.
The Sun (2016)
Yet thousands must feel their lives are over before they have begun.
The Sun (2009)
The retirement income a saver could receive can vary by thousands of pounds a year.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
Since then tens of thousands of people have signed an online petition against the plan.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
This is going to affect thousands of people.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
The house has cost many thousands more since.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
His mother dies while he is thousands of miles away.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
Thousands also bring family members over with them.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
There were two or three thousand but about 70,000 claim to have been.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
Depending on what you do, you may end up knocking thousands off the price of your home and making it more difficult to sell.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
In other languages
thousand
British English: thousand /ˈθaʊzənd/ NUMBER
A thousand or onethousand is the number 1,000.
Five thousand people went to the event.
American English: thousand
Arabic: أَلْف
Brazilian Portuguese: mil
Chinese: 千
Croatian: tisuću
Czech: tisíc
Danish: tusind
Dutch: duizend
European Spanish: mil
Finnish: tuhat
French: mille
German: tausend
Greek: χίλια
Italian: mille
Japanese: 千
Korean: 1000
Norwegian: tusen
Polish: tysiąc
European Portuguese: mil
Romanian: o mie
Russian: тысяча
Latin American Spanish: mil
Swedish: tusen
Thai: หนึ่งพัน
Turkish: bin sayı
Ukrainian: тисяча
Vietnamese: nghìn
All related terms of 'thousand'
Thousand Oaks
city in SW Calif., northwest of Los Angeles: pop. 117,000
Thousand Island
of or relating to the Thousand Islands or their inhabitants
thousand-jacket
a small evergreen malvaceous tree, Hoheria populnea , of New Zealand. Its wood is used in furniture making and the tough bark for making cord
Thousand Guineas
→ the Thousand Guineas
Thousand Islands
a group of about 1500 islands between the US and Canada , in the upper St Lawrence River: administratively divided between the two countries
One Thousand Guineas
→ Thousand Guineas
the Thousand Guineas
an annual horse race, restricted to fillies , run at Newmarket since 1814
Two Thousand Guineas
→ 2000 Guineas
Thousand Island dressing
a salad dressing made from mayonnaise with ketchup , chopped gherkins , etc
Thousand and One Nights
→ Arabian Nights' Entertainments
Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes
a volcanic region of SW Alaska , formed by the massive eruption of Mount Katmai in 1912; jets of steam issue from vents up to 45 m (150 ft) across
sixty-four thousand dollar question
a crucial question or issue
a hundred and one a thousand and one a million and one
You can use expressions such as a hundred and one , a thousand and one , and a million and one to emphasize that you are talking about a large number of things or people.
houhere
a small evergreen malvaceous tree, Hoheria populnea , of New Zealand. Its wood is used in furniture making and the tough bark for making cord
lacebark
a small evergreen malvaceous tree, Hoheria populnea , of New Zealand. Its wood is used in furniture making and the tough bark for making cord
ribbonwood
a small evergreen malvaceous tree, Hoheria populnea , of New Zealand. Its wood is used in furniture making and the tough bark for making cord
Arabian Nights
The a collection of ancient tales from Arabia , India , Persia , etc.
the Arabian Nights
a collection of oriental folk tales dating from the tenth century
a hundred and one/a million and one a thousand and one
You can use expressions such as a hundred and one , a thousand and one , and a million and one to emphasize that you are talking about a large number of things or people.