(~s)
Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English.
Note: The plural form is '~' after a number, or after a word or expression referring to a number, such as ‘several’ or ‘a few’.
1.
A ~ or one ~ is the number 1,000.
...five ~ acres...
Visitors can expect to pay about a ~ pounds a day.
NUM: usu a /num NUM
2.
If you refer to ~s of things or people, you are emphasizing that there are very many of them.
Thousands of refugees are packed into over-crowded towns and villages...
QUANT: QUANT of pl-n emphasis
•
You can also use ~s as a pronoun.
Hundreds have been killed in the fighting and ~s made homeless.
PRON
3.
a ~ and one: see one