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

Nigel Farage, the leader of the right-wing Reform UK party, slammed the Conservative and Labour parties after it was revealed this week thousands of Afghan refugees were secretly resettled into the country without the public's knowledge. —Michael Dorgan, FOXNews.com, 20 July 2025

All of that information will need to be aggregated and calculated across tens of thousands of programs, and thousands of schools, over a yearslong period. —Zachary Schermele, USA Today, 20 July 2025

Tens of thousands of Haitians living and working in the United States with temporary protections from deportation will now be allowed to remain until at least February 2026 with employment authorization, according to the Department of Homeland Security website. —Jacqueline Charles, Sun Sentinel, 20 July 2025

Wayfair has thousands of deals on cooling sheets and blankets, including this summer duvet cover from IEnjoy Home. —Rachel Trujillo, People.com, 20 July 2025

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