/ Sign up
English (UK)
Cambridge Dictionary Online

Meaning of number in English

number
noun
uk
/ˈnʌm.bər/ us
/ˈnʌm.bɚ/

number noun (SYMBOL)

Add to word list Add to word list
A1 [ C ]
(a sign or symbol representing) a unit that forms part of the system of counting and calculating:
25, 300, and a billion are all numbers.
She's very good with numbers (= good at adding, subtracting, etc.).
A1 [ C ]
(written abbreviation no.)
a number that is used to mark a particular example of something:
They live at number 34 Orchard Street.
Please write your credit card number on this form.
What's our flight number?
A1 [ C ]
(written abbreviation no.)
a phone number:
I gave him my number.
More examplesFewer examples
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
Numbers generally
See more results »

You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

number noun (AMOUNT)

B1 [ S, + sing/pl verb ]
an amount or total:
number of The number of people killed in traffic accidents fell last month.
There has been an increasing number of cases of the disease.
A small number of children are educated at home.
A large number of invitations has been sent.
in number Letters of complaint were surprisingly few in number (= there were not many of them).
numbers [ plural ]
a number of a particular description:
small numbers of Small numbers of children are educated at home.
See more
a number of things
B2
several of a particular type of thing:
Headaches can be caused by a number of things.
See more
[ S, + sing/pl verb ]
a group of people:
of someone's/something's number On the trip, one of our number fell ill.
More examplesFewer examples
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
General words for size and amount
See more results »

You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

number noun (GRAMMAR)

[ U ]   language   specialized
the forms of words, especially nouns, pronouns, and verbs, that show whether they are singular or plural:
grammatical number In English, nouns are inflected for grammatical number.
Some non-English writers stumble over number - the difference between singular and plural.
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
Linguistics: grammatical terms
See more results »

number noun (PARTICULAR THING)

[ C ]
a particular copy of a magazine:
number of Do you have last week's number of the New Yorker?
back number He's got all the back numbers (= previous copies) of the magazine.
[ C ] informal
a piece of clothing, especially a dress, that you admire:
She was wearing a stylish Dior number.
[ C ] US slang
a person with a particular characteristic:
He's a real sexy number, don't you think?
[ C ]
a short tune or song:
Sing one of those romantic numbers.
The show includes several classic holiday musical numbers.
[ C usually singular ] mainly US informal
something that is often said:
He tried the usual/that old number about how his wife didn't understand him.
More examplesFewer examples
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
Newspapers & magazines
See more results »

You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Grammar

Number
When we use the word number, we refer to specific numbers: …
Numbers: first, second, third
Numbers such as first, second, third are ordinal numbers. We use them to put things in an order. We most commonly use ordinal numbers as determiners. When we use ordinal numbers as determiners (before nouns), we commonly use other determiners such as articles (a/an, the) and possessives (my, your) in front of them: …
Numbers: one, two, three
Numbers such as one, five, eleven, two hundred are cardinal numbers. We most commonly use cardinal numbers as determiners (before nouns). When we use them in this way, we can use other determiners such as articles (a/an, the) and possessives (my, your) in front of them. We can use cardinal numbers + of before determiners (one of my friends): …
Amount of, number of or quantity of?
We use amount of with uncountable nouns. Number of is used with countable nouns: …
Amount of or number of?
We use amount of with uncountable nouns. Number of is used with countable nouns: …
A quantity of or quantities of?
Quantity is more formal than amount or number. A quantity of or quantities of can be followed by a countable noun or an uncountable noun. They are most commonly used with an adjective such as huge, big, large, small: …

Idioms

any number of things
beyond/without number
by (sheer) force/weight of numbers
by numbers
do a number on someone
have someone's number
your number is up
a numbers game
number
verb
uk
/ˈnʌm.bər/ us
/ˈnʌm.bɚ/

number verb (WRITE SYMBOL)

C1 [ T ]
to give something a number in a series and usually to write this number on it:
All the folders have been carefully numbered and filed away.
number something from something to something Number the pages from one to ten.
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
Numbering & counting
See more results »

number verb (AMOUNT)

C2 [ L only + noun ]
If people or things number a particular amount, there are this many of them:
After the hurricane the homeless numbered over 200,000.
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
Calculations & calculating
See more results »

Phrasal verb

number someone/something among someone/something
(Definition of number from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

number | American Dictionary

number
noun

number noun (SYMBOL)

Add to word list Add to word list
[ C ] us
/ˈnʌm·bər/ plural nos.
(abbreviation no.)
a unit or its symbol that forms part of a system of counting and calculating, and that represents an amount or position in a series:
You can write numbers in words, such as six, seven, and eight, or with symbols, such as 6, 7, and 8.
[ C ] us
/ˈnʌm·bər/ plural nos.
(abbreviation no.)
A number is also a specific set of symbols in a particular order that represent someone or something:
Please write down your Social Security number.
[ C ] us
/ˈnʌm·bər/ plural nos.
(abbreviation no.)
A number can also be a position in a series:
We’re up to 10 – who has the next number?

number noun (AMOUNT)

[ C/U ] us
/ˈnʌm·bər/
an amount or total:
[ C ] A large number of tickets were sold almost immediately.
[ C ] Large numbers of people (= A lot of people) crowded the streets.
[ U ] Quite a number of (= Many) cases of the flu have been reported already.
[ C/U ] us
/ˈnʌm·bər/
A number of things is several of them:
[ U ] There were a number of causes for the accident.
[ C/U ] us
/ˈnʌm·bər/
Any number of things is a lot of them:
[ U ] He’d already heard any number of excuses.

number noun (GRAMMAR)

[ U ]   grammar us/ˈnʌm·bər/
the forms of words, esp. nouns, pronouns, and verbs, that show whether they are singular or plural

number noun (SONG)

[ C ] us
/ˈnʌm·bər/
a song, dance, or other part in a performance:
The last number she sang was a beautiful, slow ballad.

Idiom

someone's number is up
number
verb
us
/ˈnʌm·bər/

number verb (GIVE A NUMBER)

[ T ]
to give a different number to each of two or more things, esp. in a particular order:
The software automatically numbers the footnotes.

number verb (TOTAL)

[ L ]
to be (a total):
The crowd numbered over 100,000.
(Definition of number from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

number | Business English

number
noun
uk
/ˈnʌmbər/ us
( abbreviation No.)
Add to word list Add to word list
[ C ]
a set of numbers that marks a particular person or thing as separate from others of the same type:
account/invoice/order number Include your account number and the name of the fund in which you want to invest.
contact/telephone/mobile number Please leave a contact number.
a credit card/registration/identification number
[ C ]
an amount of people or things:
the number of sth The number of employees taking legal action over work-related disease is increasing.
a growing/increasing/declining number Regulators are seeing a growing number of stock frauds directed at small investors.
the maximum/minimum/total number The total number of people in employment has increased by more than 234,000 (16.1%).
a large/record number
a small/limited number
a number of things/reasons/people, etc.
several things, reasons, people, etc.:
There are a number of factors currently influencing stock-price fluctuations.
numbers [ plural ]
FINANCE
the information in a company's accounts that shows its financial results and position:
Citigroup described the supermarket's numbers as strong and solid.
used to talk about how many people are involved in something:
customer/passenger/staff numbers Passenger numbers increased 11.3% in the period.
make the numbers
to achieve the expected results, expressed in numbers:
The company culture drove employees to make the numbers without much concern for how they did it.
run the numbers
FINANCE
to examine the details of a particular financial situation, usually in order to make a decision about it:
She ran the numbers on her mortgage and realized that refinancing was the right thing to do.

Compare

figure

See also

bank identification number
box number
DUNS number
opposite number
PIN
routing number
serial number
Social Security Number
number
verb
uk
/ˈnʌmbər/ us
[ T ]
to give something a number in a series:
Documents filed under the Act must be numbered.
[ I or T ]
if people or things number 100, 1 million, etc., there are that number of them:
At its peak, the workforce involved in building the new airport terminal numbered 50,000.
number in the hundreds/thousands/millions, etc. Their fan base numbers in the tens of millions worldwide.
(Definition of number from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)
What is the pronunciation of number?
 

Translations of number

in Chinese (Traditional)
符號, 數字, 號碼…
See more
in Chinese (Simplified)
符号, 数字, 号码…
See more
in Spanish
número, número de teléfono, grupo…
See more
in Portuguese
número, quantidade, numerar…
See more
in more languages
in Marathi
in Japanese
in Turkish
in French
in Catalan
in Dutch
in Tamil
in Hindi
in Gujarati
in Danish
in Swedish
in Malay
in German
in Norwegian
in Urdu
in Ukrainian
in Telugu
in Bengali
in Czech
in Indonesian
in Thai
in Vietnamese
in Polish
in Korean
in Italian
आकडा, क्रमांक, (फोन) नंबर…
See more
数, 数字, 番号…
See more
numara, sayı, rakam…
See more
nombre [masculine], numéro [masculine], numéroter…
See more
nombre, número, numerar…
See more
nummer, aantal, liedje…
See more
(ஒரு அடையாளம் அல்லது சின்னம் குறிக்கும்) எண்ணும் மற்றும் கணக்கிடும் அமைப்பின் ஒரு பகுதியை உருவாக்கும் ஒரு அலகு, ஏதோ ஒரு குறிப்பிட்ட உதாரணத்தைக் குறிக்கப் பயன்படும் எண், ஒரு தொலைபேசி எண்…
See more
संख्या, एक चिह्न या प्रतीक जो गिनती और गणना की प्रणाली के हिस्से की एक इकाई का प्रतिनिधित्व करता है, किसी विशेष चीज़ के उदहारण को चिह्नित करने हेतु प्रयुक्त…
See more
અંક, આંકડો, એક સંખ્યા જેનો ઉપયોગ કોઈ વસ્તુના ખાસ ઉદાહરણને ચિન્હિત કરવા માટે થાય છે.…
See more
nummer, tal, antal…
See more
nummer, tal, antal…
See more
nombor, sebilangan, keluaran…
See more
die Nummer, die (An)Zahl, die Ausgabe…
See more
tall [neuter], antall [neuter], telefonnummer [neuter]…
See more
گنتی, میزان, نمبر…
See more
номер, число, кількість…
See more
లెక్కలు, నెంబర్/అంకె/ సంఖ్య, ఫోన్ నెంబర్…
See more
সংখ্যা, গণনা এবং হিসেবের জন্যে ব্যবহার করা হয় যে সংখ্যা, একটি সংখ্যা যা কোনো বস্তুর একটি নির্দিষ্ট উদাহরণ চিহ্নিত করতে ব্যবহৃত হয়…
See more
číslo, množství, očíslovat…
See more
nomor, jumlah, menomori…
See more
ตัวเลข, จำนวน, ฉบับ…
See more
chữ số, số lượng, số phát hành của tạp chí…
See more
numer, liczba, numerować…
See more
숫자, 번호, 양…
See more
numero, quantità, numerare…
See more
Need a translator?

Get a quick, free translation!

Translator tool
 

Browse

numb
numb with something
numbat
numbed
number
number cruncher
number crunching
number density BETA
number line

Word of the Day

turn of phrase

UK
/ˌtɜːn əv ˈfreɪz/
US
/ˌtɝːn əv ˈfreɪz/

a way of saying something

About this

Blog

I’m tearing my hair out here! Hair idioms

has been added to list
English (UK)   Change
English (UK) English (US) Español Português 中文 (简体) 正體中文 (繁體) Dansk Deutsch Français Italiano Nederlands Norsk Polski Русский Türkçe Tiếng Việt Svenska Українська 日本語 한국어 ગુજરાતી தமிழ் తెలుగు বাঙ্গালি मराठी हिंदी
Follow us
Choose a dictionary
  • Recent and Recommended
  • Definitions
    Clear explanations of natural written and spoken English
    English Learner’s Dictionary Essential British English Essential American English
  • Grammar and thesaurus
    Usage explanations of natural written and spoken English
    Grammar Thesaurus
  • Pronunciation
    British and American pronunciations with audio
    English Pronunciation
  • Translation
    Click on the arrows to change the translation direction.
    Bilingual Dictionaries
    • English–Chinese (Simplified) Chinese (Simplified)–English
    • English–Chinese (Traditional) Chinese (Traditional)–English
    • English–Danish Danish–English
    • English–Dutch Dutch–English
    • English–French French–English
    • English–German German–English
    • English–Indonesian Indonesian–English
    • English–Italian Italian–English
    • English–Japanese Japanese–English
    • English–Norwegian Norwegian–English
    • English–Polish Polish–English
    • English–Portuguese Portuguese–English
    • English–Spanish Spanish–English
    • English–Swedish Swedish–English
    Semi-bilingual Dictionaries
    English–Arabic English–Bengali English–Catalan English–Czech English–Gujarati English–Hindi English–Korean English–Malay English–Marathi English–Russian English–Tamil English–Telugu English–Thai English–Turkish English–Ukrainian English–Urdu English–Vietnamese
  • Dictionary +Plus
    Word Lists
Contents
My word lists

To add number to a word list please sign up or log in.

Sign up or Log in
My word lists

Add number to one of your lists below, or create a new one.

More
Go to your word lists
Tell us about this example sentence: