number
/ˈnʌmbə
/noun
1An arithmetical value, expressed by a word, symbol, or figure, representing a particular quantity and used in counting and making calculations: think of a number from one to ten and multiply it by three even numbers...
- We also counted the number of words, abbreviations, symbols, numbers, and values in each record.
- Finding the ideal ratio of words to numbers may prove a fruitful area for further research.
- The whole number part starts off your list of numbers for the continued fraction.
Synonyms
numeral, integer, figure, digit;
character, symbol;
whole number, decimal number, decimal, unit;
cardinal number, ordinal number;
Roman number, Arabic number
rare cipher
1.1A figure or group of figures used to identify someone or something: she picked up the phone and dialled his home number...
- A brief name description and gene ID accession number is given to the right hand side of each ratio.
- Sequences included in this study and their accession numbers are listed in table 1.
- A minimum of one Lotto ticket serial number is drawn from all valid tickets each Lotto draw.
1.2 (numbers) dated Arithmetic: the boy was adept at numbers
2A quantity or amount: the company is seeking to increase the number of women on its staff the exhibition attracted vast numbers of visitors...
- Ham House's ghost tours are attracting an increasing number of visitors.
- The battlefields of Normandy are drawing increasing numbers of British visitors as the anniversary of D-Day approaches.
- Simply, step one involves estimating the expected number of substitutions per site accumulating between sampling times.
Synonyms
amount, quantity;
total, sum total, aggregate, tally;
quota
2.1 (a number of) Several: we have discussed the matter on a number of occasions...
- The company has ruled out on a number of occasions a full listing on the stock market.
- It has been reiterated on several occasions since through a number of declarations and statements.
- All credit to Liverpool who put up a great fight and could have scored through Owen on a number of occasions.
Synonyms
several, various, quite a few, sundry, diverse
literary divers
2.2A group or company of people: there were some distinguished names among our number...
- One of their number, party strategist Dominic Cummings, explained it to them recently.
- The Scottish popular press doesn't have a lot of time for gays either, even though there are a few among their number.
- However, the club are hopeful to have the tricky winger back among their number in the next few days to continue his trial.
Synonyms
group, company, crowd, circle, party, body, band, crew, set
informal gang, tribe
2.3 (numbers) A large quantity or amount, often in contrast to a smaller one; numerical preponderance: the weight of numbers turned the battle against them...
- Protesters find that their objections fall upon deaf ears; their reasons belittled and their sheer weight of numbers ignored.
- Under the sheer weight of numbers, grandparents, aunts and uncles have begun to disown their own.
- But when has weight of numbers been a reason to pre-empt the outcome of a parliamentary inquiry or cut it short?
3chiefly British A single issue of a magazine: the October number of ‘Travel’
Synonyms
edition, issue, copy;
printing, imprint, impression, publication
3.1A song, dance, piece of music, etc., especially one of several in a performance: they go from one melodious number to another...
- For her audition Natalie had to recite two drama pieces and perform three song and dance numbers.
- The performers will also tackle solo songs and duets, group numbers, character dances, duologues and slapstick.
- In one of the program's dance numbers, he performed Topeng Dalem with refined and deeply touching movements.
Synonyms
song, piece of music, musical item, piece, tune, track;
turn, item, routine, sketch, dance, act
3.2 [usually with adjective or noun modifier] informal An item of clothing of a particular type, regarded with approval or admiration: Yvonne was wearing a little black number...
- The dress was a sleek, black number with tiny, silvery sequins along the low neckline.
- She pulled it off, to find a slinky black number, with thin spaghetti-straps and a jagged edge.
- Her friend is one of those people who have no creativity so they just throw on some cat ears with some black slinky numbers.
4 [mass noun] A grammatical classification of words that consists typically of singular and plural, and, in Greek and certain other languages, dual: the form of English pronouns reflects their number and gender...
- Countable nouns make a distinction between singular and plural number.
- Human nouns have a distinct class marking mechanism based on number and gender.
- There was a time a few years ago when the United States was spoken of in the plural number.
verb [with object]
1Amount to (a specified figure or quantity); comprise: the demonstrators numbered more than 5,000...
- Last year's total Jewish immigration into Israel, numbering some 23,000, was a 15-year low.
- The military forces number about fifteen thousand and are among the best trained in Africa.
- Current playable songs number only in the hundreds.
Synonyms
add up to, amount to, total, come to
2Mark with a number or assign a number to, typically to indicate position in a series: each document was numbered consecutively...
- Coffins are being numbered and marked with pictures of the dead inside.
- The other series, known as the piezometer series, is numbered simply 1 to 104.
- Intron positions were numbered consecutively beginning at the N-terminus of the alignment.
Synonyms
assign a number to, categorize by number, specify by number, mark with a number;
itemize, enumerate
2.1Count: strategies like ours can be numbered on the fingers of one hand...
- And thy servant is in the midst of thy people, which thou has chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered or counted for multitude.
- The number of subjects that I could discuss with my parents and claim genuine common experience could be numbered on the fingers of one hand.
- The few which manage to maintain the consistency and flow necessary to repeated listening can be numbered on the fingers of one hand.
Synonyms
count, add up, total, calculate, compute, enumerate, reckon, tell, tally;
assess;
British tot up
3Include or classify as a member of a group: the orchestra numbers Brahms among its past conductors...
- The Wheelers were the best cycling club in the city, numbering among their members Ian Steel, who made an abortive appearance in the 1955 Tour, and Billy Bilsland, who had followed Steel and Ken Laidlaw to race in France.
- The Accademia d' Italia, set up in 1929 in imitation of France, never had any real prestige or significance although it numbered among its members a few men of real merit.
- Weigand got really mad when he found out that Dell numbered Handgun Control as a member of its sales affiliate program, by which companies gain fees for referrals.
Synonyms
include, count;
reckon, deem, look on
Usage
The construction the number of + plural noun is used with a singular verb (as in the number of people affected remains small). Thus it is the noun number rather than the noun people which is taken to agree with the verb (and which is therefore functioning as the head noun). By contrast, the apparently similar construction a number of + plural noun is used with a plural verb (as in a number of people remain to be contacted). In this case it is the noun people which acts as the head noun and with which the verb agrees. In the latter case, a number of works as if it were a single word, such as some or several. See also lot (usage).
Phrases
any number of
by numbers
by the numbers
someone's (or something's) days are numbered
do a number on
have someone's number
have someone's number on it
someone's number is up
without number
Origin
Middle English: from Old French nombre (noun), nombrer (verb), from Latin numerus.
The source of number, and of enumerate (early 17th century) and numerous (Middle English), is the Latin word numerus. The first written use of your number is up was by the English essayist Charles Lamb in a letter written in 1806, in which the reference is to someone drawing a winning ticket in the ‘lottery of despair’. Other suggestions have been made as to the phrase's origins. One links it to various passages in the Bible that refer to the ‘number of your days’, meaning the length of your life. Another proposes that the number in question is a soldier's army number, associated with identifying casualties on the battlefield and the fatalistic expectation of a bullet with ‘your name and number’ on it.