(~s, figuring, ~d)
Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English.
1.
A ~ is a particular amount expressed as a number, especially a statistic.
It would be very nice if we had a true ~ of how many people in this country haven’t got a job...
It will not be long before the inflation ~ starts to fall...
New Government ~s predict that one in two marriages will end in divorce.
N-COUNT
2.
A ~ is any of the ten written symbols from 0 to 9 that are used to represent a number.
= digit
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3.
An amount or number that is in single ~s is between zero and nine. An amount or number that is in double ~s is between ten and ninety-nine. You can also say, for example, that an amount or number is in three ~s when it is between one hundred and nine hundred and ninety-nine.
Inflation, which has usually been in single ~s, is running at more than 12%...
Crawley, with 14, was the only other player to reach double ~s...
N-PLURAL: adj/num N
4.
You refer to someone that you can see as a ~ when you cannot see them clearly or when you are describing them.
She waited, standing on the bridge, until his ~ vanished against the grey backdrop of the Palace...
N-COUNT: usu with supp, oft N of n
5.
In art, a ~ is a person in a drawing or a painting, or a statue of a person.
...a life-size bronze ~ of a brooding, hooded woman.
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6.
Your ~ is the shape of your body.
Take pride in your health and your ~...
Janet was a natural blonde with a good ~.
N-COUNT: with supp, oft poss/adj N
7.
Someone who is referred to as a ~ of a particular kind is a person who is well-known and important in some way.
The movement is supported by key ~s in the three main political parties.
N-COUNT: with supp
8.
If you say that someone is, for example, a mother ~ or a hero ~, you mean that other people regard them as the type of person stated or suggested.
Sometimes young lads just need to turn to a mother ~ for a bit of a chat and reassurance.
N-COUNT: with supp, usu n N, N of n
9.
In books and magazines, the diagrams which help to show or explain information are referred to as ~s.
If you look at a world map (see Figure 1) you can identify the major wine-producing regions...
N-COUNT: also N num
10.
In geometry, a ~ is a shape, especially a regular shape. (TECHNICAL)
Draw a pentagon, a regular five-sided ~.
N-COUNT: usu supp N
11.
If you ~ that something is the case, you think or guess that it is the case. (INFORMAL)
She ~d that both she and Ned had learned a lot from the experience.
VERB: V that
12.
If you say ‘That ~s’ or ‘It ~s’, you mean that the fact referred to is not surprising. (INFORMAL)
When I finished, he said, ‘Yeah. That ~s’...
VERB: that/it V, also it V that
13.
If a person or thing ~s in something, they appear in or are included in it.
Human rights violations ~d prominently in the report.
VERB: no passive, V in n, also V as n