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

Since its founding in 1996 by David Fishof, the camp has paired thousands of aspiring musicians of all levels with some of rock's greatest legends, including Bill Wyman (Rolling Stones), Steve Tyler (Aerosmith), Paul Stanley (Kiss) and Daltrey. —Jim Clash, Forbes.com, 14 Sep. 2025

In addition to the other crimes, court documents note Denis allegedly aided in filing false joint tax returns in 2018, 2019 and 2020, resulting in claims of hundreds of thousands of fraudulent refunds each year. —Alexandra Koch, FOXNews.com, 14 Sep. 2025

Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya fled to squalid refugee camps in neighboring Bangladesh, but Mohammad and his daughter found safety and hope in India. —Esha Mitra, CNN Money, 14 Sep. 2025

To manage the thousands of people who descend daily, operators have studied visitors’ behavior and engineered their parks to move people around without anyone realizing they’re being nudged. —Bianca Bosker, The Atlantic, 14 Sep. 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