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

The scheme involved thousands of dummy servers, according to the indictment. —Aaron Katersky, ABC News, 20 Mar. 2026

Hundreds of thousands of barrels of Russian oil are headed to Cuba, in a test of Washington’s embargo on the island nation. —Jeronimo Gonzalez, semafor.com, 20 Mar. 2026

Pakistan accuses Afghanistan's Taliban government of sheltering TTP leaders and thousands of members who carry out cross-border attacks. —Arkansas Online, 20 Mar. 2026

Executives from large companies such as Kaiser Permanente, Assembled Brands, Ben and Jerry’s, Montage International, Seabury Capital, Amegy Bank, Moelis & Company, and IntraFi contributed tens of thousands of dollars more to Talarico. —Robert Schmad, The Washington Examiner, 19 Mar. 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