thousand

noun

thou·​sand ˈthau̇-zᵊn(d) 

plural thousands or thousand

1

: a number equal to 10 times 100 see Table of Numbers

2

: a very large number

thousands of ants

thousand adjective

thousandfold

ˈthau̇-zᵊn(d)-ˌfōld 

adjective or adverb

thousandth

ˈthau̇-zᵊn(t)th 

adjective or noun

Examples of thousand in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Or in some cases, experts warn, these details could even use be used to attempt to steal thousands of dollars from an older adult by falsely claiming their grandchild is in need of emergency help. —Susan Tompor, Freep.com, 26 Aug. 2025

The burglars were in and out of homes in minutes and left with hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, jewelry and luxury items. —Bebe Hodges, The Enquirer, 25 Aug. 2025

Either calculation suggests that a plastic toothbrush adds tens of thousands of particles to one’s yearly load of microplastics, which is significant when considering that estimates of microplastic exposure from food, air, and water put a person’s yearly particle load at more than 100,000. —Zoë Schlanger, The Atlantic, 25 Aug. 2025

Hundreds of thousands of lives have been lost on all sides of America’s post-9/11 wars, and grave physical and psychological injuries have been inflicted on the troops who serced in those conflicts. —William Hartung, Forbes.com, 25 Aug. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Old English thūsend; akin to Old High German dūsunt thousand, Lithuanian tūkstantis, and probably to Sanskrit tavas strong, Latin tumēre to swell — more at thumb entry 1

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing thousand

• a picture is worth a thousand words
• bat a thousand
• never/not in a thousand/million/billion years
• thousand-legger

Kids Definition

thousand

noun

thou·​sand ˈthau̇z-ᵊn(d) 

plural thousands or thousand

1

: a number equal to 10 times 100 see number

2

: a very large number

thousands of ants

thousand adjective