ten

\ ˈten

How to pronounce ten (audio)

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Definition of ten

1 : a number that is one more than nine — see Table of Numbers

2 : the 10th in a set or series wears a ten

3 : something having 10 units or members

4 : a 10-dollar bill

5 : one deserving the highest rating specifically : an exceptionally attractive person

Other Words from ten Synonyms & Antonyms More Example Sentences Learn More about ten

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Examples of ten in a Sentence

“What time is it” “It's ten.” promised me that she would fix me up with a ten

Recent Examples on the Web This can be oversimplified and overstated, but the United States did attract immigrants by the tens of millions. — Marilynne Robinson, The New York Review of Books, "What Kind of Country Do We Want?," 27 May 2020 City attorneys for Los Angeles and San Francisco also joined the suit, which asks the court to fine Uber and Lyft $2,500 per each misclassified driver in California; that could add up to tens of millions of dollars in penalties for each company. — Aarian Marshall, Wired, "California Sues Uber and Lyft to Classify Drivers as Employees," 5 May 2020 Think tens of thousands of people at a concert, conventions and crowded sports arenas. — Julia Wick, Los Angeles Times, "Newsletter: The ABCs of reopening," 29 Apr. 2020 Higher stock prices won’t offer much consolation to the tens of millions of people who have been laid off or furloughed. — John Cassidy, The New Yorker, "The Man with the U.S. Economy (and Trump’s Reëlection Chances) in His Hands," 28 Apr. 2020 The thousands who go undrafted, along with the tens of thousands of college seniors whose seasons were ruined, will join me searching for new meaning and employment. — Toby Gerhart, New York Times, "How N.F.L. Draft Day Began the End of My 22-Year Football Career," 23 Apr. 2020 There’s a reason tens of thousands of people tune in to watch esports professionals play. — Sean Collins, Dallas News, "‘In the end it’s entertainment’: With traditional sports on hiatus due to coronavirus, esports is primed to fill the void," 20 Mar. 2020 People come in the tens of thousands and sometimes the hundreds of thousand. — Adam Rasgon, New York Times, "In Jerusalem, Ramadan Restrictions Last Seen During the Crusades Return," 15 May 2020 Storms have typically cost Duke in the tens of millions of dollars—no small amount, but part of the cost of doing business in the U.S. Southeast. — Mark Chediak, Bloomberg.com, "Traditional Ways of Paying for Fires and Floods Aren’t Cutting It," 12 May 2020

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'ten.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

History and Etymology for ten

Middle English, going back to Old English tīen (West Saxon), tēn, going back to Germanic *tehun (whence also Old Frisian tiān, tiēn "ten," Old Saxon tehan, Old High German zehan, Old Norse tíu, Gothic taihun), going back to Indo-European *deḱm̥, whence also Old Irish deich "ten," Welsh deg, Latin decem, Old Church Slavic desętĭ, Lithuanian dẽšimt, Albanian dhjetë, Greek déka, Armenian tasn, Tocharian A śäk, Tocharian B śak, Avestan dasa, Sanskrit daśa

Note: The Slavic, Baltic, and perhaps Albanian forms are derived from the ordinal base *deḱm̥-t-.

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Last Updated

15 Jun 2020

Cite this Entry

“Ten.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ten. Accessed 13 Jul. 2020.

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More Definitions for ten

ten

noun

English Language Learners Definition of ten

: the number 10

: the tenth in a set or series

: ten o'clock

See the full definition for ten in the English Language Learners Dictionary

ten

\ ˈten

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Kids Definition of ten

(Entry 1 of 2)

: being one more than nine

ten

Kids Definition of ten (Entry 2 of 2)

1 : one more than nine : two times five : 10

2 : the tenth in a set or series

TEN

Medical Definition of TEN

toxic epidermal necrolysis

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