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

Cities and smaller communities across the country are competing for remote workers with thousands of dollars in cash, housing assistance, coworking memberships, and other perks designed to make relocating a little easier. — Meggen Harris, Forbes.com, 19 Aug. 2026

Industrial bet Australia expects the broader AUKUS effort to create thousands of skilled jobs in South Australia. — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 19 Aug. 2026

The move sparked weeks of protests from thousands of people across the country, criticizing the removal of the widely respected minister. — CBS News, 19 Aug. 2026

Hundreds of thousands of packages have already been delivered by Amazon drones this year, but even after this expansion drones will still only handle a fraction of the hundreds of millions of package deliveries each year. — ABC News, 19 Aug. 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