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

In that same year, however, public tax filings show that the nonprofit paid thousands and thousands of dollars to Preston's family, including in-laws. —Sooji Nam, CBS News, 17 June 2026

Both Anthropic and rival OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, are set to go public in the coming year, minting thousands of new multi-millionaires. —Ben Paviour, Sacbee.com, 17 June 2026

The cabin was expanded to include sleep spaces and communal dining areas for ski students—thousands of Icelanders would pass through every summer season. —Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 17 June 2026

When thousands tried to escape, many were crushed because the gates were locked. —Simon Hughes, New York Times, 17 June 2026

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