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number

noun · verb

Simple meaning

A way to count things or a symbol representing an amount

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

nuhmber

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈnʌmbɚ

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. The property possessed by a sum or total or indefinite quantity of units or individuals

    “The number of parameters is small.”

  2. A concept of quantity involving zero and units

    “Every number has a unique position in the sequence.”

  3. A numeral or string of numerals that is used for identification and may be attached to accounts, memberships, etc.

    “She refused to give them her Social Security number.”

  4. countable

    An abstract entity used to describe quantity.

  5. Followed by a numeralused attributively

    Indicating the position of something in a list or sequence. Abbreviations: No or No., no or no. (in each case, sometimes written with a superscript "o", like Nº or №). The symbol "#" is also used in this manner.

  6. countable

    A numeral: a symbol for a non-negative integer.

verb

  1. intransitive

    To total or count; to amount to.

  2. transitivewith off

    To call out and assign a series of numbers (usually to people), either for the sake of dividing into groups or for counting.

  3. transitivewith off

    To enumerate or list, especially while assigning numbers to.

  4. intransitiveusually with among

    To be classified or included (in a certain group or category of things).

  5. transitiveusually with among

    To classify or include (in a group of things)

  6. transitive

    To label (items) with numbers; to assign numbers to (items).

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
A1 · Beginner
Frequency
Very Common
Typical Use
Everyday English

How It’s Used

The word’s distinct uses, one example each.

  • Property / conceptnoun

    “The number of parameters is small.”

  • Numeralnoun

    “She refused to give them her Social Security number.”

More ways to use number

  • “Every number has a unique position in the sequence.”noun
  • “She refused to give them her Social Security number.”noun
  • “In English the subject and the verb must agree in number.”noun

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

large numbernumber twototal numbersmall numbergreat numbergreater numbercertain numberlimited number

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • numbersnounPlural form

    The fourth book of the Old Testament.

  • numberingnounInflected form

    A numbered list.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

  • numbnessnounDerived noun · specialist

    Partial or total lack of sensation in a part of the body.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • number representation systemnounCompound term

    Any notation for the representation of numbers.

  • number systemnounCompound term

    Any notation for the representation of numbers.

  • number theoristnounCompound term

    A mathematician specializing in number theory.

  • number crunchernounCompound term

    Someone able to perform complex and lengthy calculations.

  • number one woodnounCompound term

    A golf club (a wood) with a near vertical face that is used for hitting long shots from the tee.

  • number agreementnounCompound term

    Agreement in number between words in the same grammatical construction (e.g., between adjectives and the nouns they modify).

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

noun

Sense: property possessed by a sum or total

amountcount

verb

Sense: to total or count

count

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.