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

Its target lay thousands of miles away in northwestern Russia. — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 29 Oct. 2026

The 67th Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show opened Wednesday across six waterfront venues, welcoming thousands of visitors for day one of what is billed as the world’s largest in-water boat exhibition. — Mike Stocker, Sun Sentinel, 29 Oct. 2026

Federal judges have ruled thousands of times that detainees should be released or granted bond hearings. — Arkansas Online, 29 Oct. 2026

Then, officials will begin counting hundreds of thousands of ballots from Israeli soldiers, diplomats abroad and a few other categories of voters. — New York Times, 28 Oct. 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