Definition of "number"

number¹

/ˈnʌmbə/

noun
plural numbers
1. (countable) An abstract entity used to describe quantity.
2. (countable) A numeral: a symbol for a non-negative integer.
3. (countable, mathematics) An element of one of several sets: natural numbers, integers, rational numbers, real numbers, complex numbers, and sometimes extensions such as hypercomplex numbers, etc.
4. (Followed by a numeral; used 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.
5. Quantity.
  Quotations
  From the ground, Colombo’s port does not look like much. […] But viewed from high up in one of the growing number of skyscrapers in Sri Lanka’s capital, it is clear that something extraordinary is happening: China is creating a shipping hub just 200 miles from India’s southern tip.
  2013 June 8, “The new masters and commanders”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8839, page 52
  Number itself importeth not much in armies where the people are of weak courage.
  1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of the True Greatness of Kingdoms and Estates”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret
6. A sequence of digits and letters used to register people, automobiles, and various other items.
7. (countable, informal) A telephone number.
  Quotations
  Rikki, don't lose that number / You don't wanna call nobody else / Send it off in a letter to yourself
  1974, “Rikki Don't Lose That Number”, performed by Steely Dan
  “[...] I wonder if you could get hold of him and have him call me here at Interior. I’m in my office, do you have my number?”
  2001, E. Forrest Hein, The Ruach Project,, Xulon Press, page 86
  When I agreed to go surfing with him he said, “Great, can I have your number?” Well, I don’t give my number to guys I don’t know.
  2007, Lindsey Nicole Isham, No Sex in the City: One Virgin's Confessions on Love, Lust, Dating, and Waiting, Kregel Publications, page 111
  Marsha's work number is 555-8986. Audio (US)(file)
  2016, VOA Learning English (public domain)
8. (grammar) Of a word or phrase, the state of being singular, dual or plural, shown by inflection.
9. (now rare, in the plural) Poetic metres; verses, rhymes.
  Quotations
  Griefe brought to numbers cannot be ſo fierce, / For, he tames it, that fetters it in verſe.
  a. 1631 (date written), J[ohn] Donne, “The Triple Foole”, in Poems, […] with Elegies on the Authors Death, London: […] M[iles] F[lesher] for Iohn Marriot, […], published 1633, page 204
  As yet a Child, nor yet a Fool to Fame, / I liſp'd in Numbers, for the Numbers came.
  1735 January 13 (Gregorian calendar; indicated as 1734), [Alexander] Pope, An Epistle from Mr. Pope, to Dr. Arbuthnot, London: […] J[ohn] Wright for Lawton Gilliver […], page 7, lines 124–125
10. (countable) A performance; especially, a single song or song and dance routine within a larger show.
11. (countable, informal) A person.
  Quotations
  I laughed. "Don't doubt that. She's a saucy little number."
  1968, Janet Burroway, The dancer from the dance: a novel,, Little, Brown, page 40
  "Signorina Jessica," says the maid, a saucy little number, "your father has gone to his prayers and demands that you come to the synagogue at once [...]"
  1988, Erica Jong, Serenissima,, Dell, page 214
  He had to focus on the mission, staying alive and getting out, not on the sexy number rubbing up against him.
  2005, Denise A. Agnew, Kate Hill, Arianna Hart, By Honor Bound,, Ellora's Cave Publishing, page 207
12. (countable, informal) An item of clothing, particularly a stylish one.
  Quotations
  The trouble was I was wearing my backless glittering number from the night before underneath, so unless I could persuade the office it was National Fancy Dress Day I was doomed to sweat profusely in bottle blue.
  2007, Cesca Martin, Agony Angel: So You Think You've Got Problems...,, Troubador Publishing Ltd, page 134
  "I doubt the sexy number you wore earlier tonight fell from the sky."
  2007, Lorelei James, Running with the Devil, Samhain Publishing, Ltd, page 46
13. (slang, chiefly US) A marijuana cigarette, or joint; also, a quantity of marijuana bought from a dealer.
  Quotations
  These were the two that Tommy had chosen to collect a debt owed to his family by a dude named Heath who ran numbers out of a grocery store on 131st and Lenox.
  2005, K'wan, Hoodlum, St. Martin's Press, page 1
  Back at his place again, Doc rolled a number, put on a late movie, found an old T-shirt, and sat tearing it up into short strips […]
  2009, Thomas Pynchon, Inherent Vice, Vintage, published 2010, page 12
14. (dated) An issue of a periodical publication.
15. A large amount, in contrast to a smaller amount; numerical preponderance.
  Quotations
  Despite last week's woes, the Braves still sport numbers that would make Christie Brinkley blush.
  1980 May 10, Al King, “Braves travel to New England with reputation”, in The Indiana Gazette
verb
third-person singular simple present numbers, present participle numbering, simple past and past participle numbered
1. (intransitive) To total or count; to amount to.
  Quotations
  Do they number in the hundreds, do they number in the thousands? Do they number in the tens of thousand?
  1977, United States Congress. House. Committee on the Judiciary. Subcommittee on Crime, Federal Role in Criminal Justice and Crime Research, page 107
2. (transitive, passive voice) To limit to a certain number; to reckon (as by fate) to be few in number.
  Quotations
  THE DAYS OF ENGLAND NOT “NUMBERED.” REPLY TO SIR ARCHIBALD ALISON.
  1867, The Days of England Not “numbered”: Reply to Sir Archibald Alison, page 1
  To conclude this book, we will let Lange’s photo and its three layers guide us. Each layer invites us to explore a different answer to this book's title question—how did our days become numbered?
  2018 February 6, Dan Bouk, How Our Days Became Numbered: Risk and the Rise of the Statistical Individual, University of Chicago Press, page 209
3. (transitive, literary or archaic) To count; to determine the quantity of.
  Quotations
  From twentie yeare old and above, all that go forth to the warre in Iſrael, thou and Aaron ſhall number them, throughout their armies.
  1610, The Bible: That Is, the Holy Scriptures Contained in the Olde and New Testament, Numbers 1:3
4. (transitive) To label (items) with numbers; to assign numbers to (items).
  Quotations
  “Public Health Service Numbered Publications – A Catalog, 1950-1962” and contains those numbered publications issued during the period 1963-64.
  1964, Education U.S. Department of Health (and Welfare), United States. Public Health Service, Public Health Service Numbered Publications: Supplement
  Most of the remaining records in the War Department Collection of Revolutionary War Records were designated "miscellaneous" records, consecutively numbered, and placed in a fourth large series of records that came to be known as […]
  1972, United States. National Archives and Records Service, Miscellaneous Numbered Records (the Manuscript File) in the War Department Collection of Revolutionary War Records, 1775-1790's, page 3
  The remainder of the valley is laid off into cute little squares and streets, with everything named and numbered, ready to be listed in the brokers’ offices.
  2022 September 4, Francis Lynde, The City of Numbered Days, DigiCat
5. (transitive, with off) To call out and assign a series of numbers (usually to people), either for the sake of dividing into groups or for counting.
  Quotations
  I counted them and numbered them off, and I found about three hundred and seventy or three hundred and seventy-five.
  1870, USA House of Representatives, House Documents, page 532
  At my entrance, the Sergeant called them to attention, numbered them off smartly, and presented two Companies for my instruction.
  2014 March 3, Flora Johnston, War Classics: The Remarkable Memoir of Scottish Scholar Christina Keith on the Western Front, The History Press
6. (transitive, with off) To enumerate or list, especially while assigning numbers to.
  Quotations
  I numbered them off on my fingers as I stated them. “First, I would redeem a small amount of my investment assets to pay off the cleared lot and come up with a down payment for the ten acres. Second, I would seek to obtain an open […]
  2019 January 11, Mark G. Turner, We Both Shall Row, My Love And I, FriesenPress, page 367
7. (transitive, usually with among) To classify or include (in a group of things)
  Quotations
  We fools counted their life madness, and their end to be without honour: how are they numbered among the children of God, and their lot is among the Saints!
  1839, Saint Cyprian (Bishop of Carthage.), The Treatises of S. Caecilius Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage, and Martyr, page 298
  They number among them men of intelligence and education, fitted in almost every respect to share in the responsibilities of government as well as receive a part of its benefits.
  1879, United States. Bureau of Indian Affairs, Report, page 76
  We certainly endorse the essential purpose of S. 708 — namely, that an applicant should not obtain a grant simply because it numbers among its stockholders a Member of Congress […]
  1963, United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Commerce, Hearings, page 69
  Unite them to Your Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church, and number them with Your chosen flock. That with us they may glorify Your all-honorable and majestic name: of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, now and ever and ever.
  2019 August 6, Fr. Joseph Irvin, The Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom: Orthodox Service Books - Number 1, Lulu Press, Inc
8. (intransitive, usually with among) To be classified or included (in a certain group or category of things).
  Quotations
  They number among our best people, particularly when we realise that they are models for what the rest of us might also achieve.
  2010 September 3, Catherine Tizard, Cat Among the Pigeons: A Memoir, Penguin Random House New Zealand Limited
  If they number among those who abuse their wives, they, just like abusing leaders, should stop.
  2020 October 1, Elizabeth Koepping, Spousal Violence Among World Christians: Silent Scandal, Bloomsbury Publishing

number²

/ˈnʌmə/

adjective
1. comparative form of numb: more numb

Definition of "number"

number1

noun

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number2

adjective

number¹

number²