never/not in a thousand/million/billion years

idiom

Definition of never/not in a thousand/million/billion years

informal

—used as a strong way of saying that something is extremely unlikely or impossible

Never in a million years did I think she would quit her job.

Word by Word Definitions

never play

: not ever : at no time
: not in any degree : not under any condition

See the full definition of never

thousand play

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

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million play

: a number equal to 1,000 times 1,000 — see Table of Numbers
: a very large number
: the mass of common people

See the full definition of million

billion play

: a number equal to 1,000 million — see Table of Numbers
: a very large number

See the full definition of billion

year play years

: the period of about 365¹/₄ solar days required for one revolution of the earth around the sun
: the time required for the apparent sun to return to an arbitrary fixed or moving reference point in the sky
: the time in which a planet completes a revolution about the sun

See the full definition of year

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