I. num·ber ˈnəmbə(r) noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English noumbre, nombre, from Old French nombre, from Latin numerus — more at nimble
1.
a. : an arithmetical total : sum of the units involved : aggregate
number of desks in the room
number of people in the hall
owing to the number of prior applications, he shortly withdrew — J.C.Archer
b. : an ascertainable total : the possibility of numbering
the sands of the seashore are beyond number
times without number
c. : an allotted total : complement
the whole number of Senators — U.S. Constitution
d. : a total of units of a particular kind
an enormous number of languages — J.B.Carroll
there is a limited number of such laboratories — P.D.Close
the city is … continuing to draw increasing numbers of visitors — H.W.H.King
archery clubs have been established … and their number is growing rapidly — American Guide Series: Minnesota
e. : an unspecified total : several
a number of solutions have been proposed — S.H.Hofstadter
the … concern occupies a number of brick buildings — American Guide Series: New Hampshire
collection which he has exhibited a number of times — Mary Zimmer
especially : quite a few
a number of instances
2.
a. : a select company
I want to be in that number when the saints go marching in — When the Saints Go Marching In
b. obsolete
(1) : a designated class : category
a mineral … of the number of bitumens — A.Cooper
(2) : a specified group of people
this happy number that have endured shrewd days and nights with us — Shakespeare
(3) : a numerous group : multitude ; specifically : proletariat
the number may be hanged, but not be crowned — Alexander Pope
3. : the enumerative aspect of things existing in countable units
a weak sense of time and number — G.T.Trewartha & Wilbur Zelinsky
4.
a. : an abstract unit in a numerical series
seven is his lucky number
a number divisible by two
b. numbers plural : the art of computation : arithmetic
teach children their numbers
from simple numbers to the calculus — British Book News
5.
a. : distinction of word form to denote reference to one or to more than one or in some languages also to two usually expressed by an inflectional change ; also : the distinctive form itself (as of noun, adjective, or verb) or one of the groups of forms so distinguished — compare plural , singular
b.
(1) obsolete : tuneful cadence : rhythm
in full harmonic number joined — John Milton
(2) numbers plural , archaic : musical sounds : notes
holy numbers which thou warblest — W.M.Praed
c. numbers plural
(1) : symmetry of cadence : period
melodic numbers of the classic orators
(2) : metrical structure : meter
most by numbers judge a poet's song — Alexander Pope
(3) : metrical lines : verses
these numbers will I tear, and write in prose — Shakespeare
6.
a. : a written word, symbol, or group of symbols representing a number
spell out numbers under three digits — Kate L. Turabian
specifically : numeral
the code employs letters as well as numbers
b. : a numerical label or designation: as
(1) : a digit or group of digits used as a means of identification
house number
catalog number
stamped a number on each ball — Millen Brand
specifically : license plate
the victim remembered the number of the getaway car
— symbol #
apartment #32
(2) : an allotted position in a numerical sequence
take number two position in column — Wirt Williams
specifically : relative position on a promotion roster
for the grounding of his ship … he was reduced ten numbers — Allan Westcott
(3) : an individual identified by position in a sequence or by a numerical label
opened fire on number three — Oxford Book of English Talk
tackled on the line of scrimmage by number 22
to the keeper I was just a new number , another dirty blanket to issue — Gilbert Millstein
— compare opposite number
(4) : the specified position of an article in a series with respect to established criteria (as of size or quality)
number nine shoe
number one manila
a number two can of tomatoes
— compare : count II 8a
(5) : a telephone number
dialed a number on the interoffice telephone — Hamilton Basso
(6) : a numerical value obtained as the result of a chemical test and used in characterizing the substance tested
the iodine number of a fatty oil
7. : a large supply : quantity , swarm
squaretails in number — Stewart Holbrook
— usually used in plural
numbers of this shark sometimes attack shoals of sardines — J.L.B.Smith
individuals of great wealth will certainly not exist in any numbers in another decade or so — Persuasion
numbers of beauties major and minor — F.R.Leavis
8. numbers plural
a. : a numerous group : many
numbers died on the way — Marjory S. Douglas
b. : a numerical preponderance
there is safety in numbers
c. : units of population
their numbers outstrip their resources — Barbara Ward
the graduate school doubled its numbers — C.F.Smith
9.
a. : a single issue of a periodical
a year's subscription brings you 12 numbers
his article will appear in the February number
b. : one that is singled out from a group: as
(1) : one of a company of people : person
two … stokers as ammunition numbers — The Crowsnest
especially : girl
a cute number in a yellow dress — R.L.Strout
a blondined number … draped in silver fox — Margaret Long
(2) : a musical, theatrical, or literary selection or production
a catchy little number in waltz time — A.E.Stevenson †1965
contains perhaps half a dozen numbers that are among the best things he ever wrote — Robert Collet
novel … was going to turn out to be one of those amnesia numbers — E.J.Fitzgerald
supported this cheery little number for just fifteen performances — Deems Taylor
the tango number late in Act I — Theatre Arts
(3) : an item of merchandise offered for sale
put that black velvet number with the sequins on the blonde dummy — Bennett Cerf
the new nylon number which he calls an armored vest — New Yorker
costs a lot of money to bring out any new toy number — Marketing Toys
a more modestly priced blanket is an all-wool number — Hamilton Basso
10. : information about or insight into a person's ability or character
the other side had his number and was riding him — Mary Deasy
she was incapable of subterfuge and it didn't take him long to get her number
11. numbers plural but singular or plural in construction
a. : a form of lottery played in the United States in which one may select any three digits from 001 to 999 and bet on them to appear in a specified order or in any combination and in which the winning numbers and order are determined by figures regularly published in newspapers (as clearinghouse or stock market receipts, pari-mutuel payoffs, or the cards in an article on contract bridge) — called also number pool, numbers game
b. : policy 2a
Synonyms:
number , numeral , figure , digit , and integer can mean in common a character by which an arithmetical value is designated. number may refer to a character or to a word
the number forty-five
the number 45
or to a character with an affix
the ordinal numbers 2d, 3d, and 4th
numeral applies to the characters as numbers as distinguished from the words standing for the same numbers
a license plate with both letters and the numerals 13249
the Roman numerals V, VI, and XLII
figure stresses the characters as characters, usually arabic
write the numbers in figures wherever possible to save space
his salary went into five figures
digit refers expressly to one of the characters in Arabic notation
if you include 0, Arabic numerals consist of 10 digits, though some authorities exclude 0 as a digit
integer , in this connection, is an arithmetical term for a whole number, one that is not or does not contain a fraction
11 1/2 is not an integer
Synonym: see in addition sum .
•
- any number
- by the number
- have one's number on it
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II. number verb
( numbered ; numbered ; numbering -b(ə)riŋ ; numbers )
Etymology: Middle English noumbren, nombren, from Old French nombrer, from Latin numerare, from numerus number
transitive verb
1.
a. : to ascertain the number of : count
numbers his friends by the hundreds
b. archaic : to determine by mathematical processes : compute
was desirous of accurately numbering the interval of time from one … festival to another — Thomas Taylor
c. obsolete : to gauge the amount of : estimate
poets cannot think, speak, cast, write, sing, number … his love — Shakespeare
2. : to claim as part of a total : include
it is only by accident that I am numbered among American philosophers — George Santayana
writers resident in Texas numbered none of note whose literary work was not incidental — American Guide Series: Texas
prudence … is numbered with the cardinal virtues — H.O.Taylor
3. : to restrict to a limited or definite number
doctors told him his days were numbered — H.E.Starr
4. : to assign a number to especially as a means of identification
number the pages of a book
stay on numbered highways
we use letters to number the rows of seats in an assembly room — D.E.Smith
five thousand dollars of the stolen money was in numbered bills — E.S.Gardner
5. archaic
a. : to report the number of : enumerate
the quantities of … furnitures following so royal an army, what pen can number — Robert Johnson
— often used with up
you numbered up the acts of trust — R.H.Hutton
b. : to check over one by one : tell
let my brother number his beads devoutly — Philip Massinger
c. : apportion , divide
days of this life's pilgrimage … to number wisely — J.W.Warter
my … fellows I numbered into two companies — William Morris
6. archaic : to experience the passage of (an interval of time)
I since then have numbered o'er some thrice three years — Alfred Tennyson
especially : to reach or have (a specified age) in years
of as able body as when he numbered thirty — Shakespeare
7. : to comprise in number : total
they were a miscellaneous lot … numbering in all some 20 or 30 — R.W.Southern
his extensive collection … numbering many thousand specimens — Witmer Stone
intransitive verb
1. : to reach a total : count
controls … literally number in the thousands — Harold Koontz & Cyril O'Donnell
2. : to call off numbers in sequence
neng, song, sam, she numbered in Siamese — Kathryn Grondahl
especially : to call off one's number as a member of a squad or group
men fall in in single rank and number from the right in fours — Fire Service Drill Book
— often used with off
lined up and numbered off
Synonyms: see count
III. numb·er ˈnəmə(r)
comparative of numb
IV. number noun
1.
a. : routine : act
b. : stunt : trick
c. : an act of transforming or impairing
tripped and did a number on her knee
2. plural
a. : figures representing amounts of money usually in dollars spent, earned, or involved
b.
(1) : statistics 2 ; especially : individual statistics (as of an athlete)
(2) : rating 3