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

Flores is accused of brokering a meeting between a large-scale drug trafficker and the director of Venezuela's National Anti-Drug Office and allegedly accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes. —CBS News, 6 Jan. 2026

Rancho Cordova city councilmembers on Monday evening will consider waiving hundreds of thousands of dollars in developers’ fees for an ambitious indoor soccer arena project. —JosÉ Luis Villegas, Sacbee.com, 6 Jan. 2026

Newer PrEP drugs Apretude and Yeztugo have list prices in the thousands of dollars. —Zach Dyer, Miami Herald, 6 Jan. 2026

Hall estimates her family spent thousands of extra dollars during their unplanned extended stay. —Briah Lumpkins, Charlotte Observer, 6 Jan. 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