number

Universal Words noun, verb noun word / symbol 1 [C] a word or symbol that represents an amount or a quantity: Think of a number and multiply it by two. * a high / low number * even numbers (= 2, 4, 6, etc.) * odd numbers (= 1, 3, 5, etc.) * You owe me 27 dollars? Make it 30, that's a good round number. seealsoCARDINALNUMBER, ORDINAL, PRIMENUMBER, WHOLENUMBER position in series 2 [C] (abbreviation No.) (Symbol )( used before a figure to show the position of sth in a series: They live at number 26. * The song reached number 5 in the charts. telephone, etc. 3 [C] )often in compounds( a number used to identify sth or communicate by telephone, FAX, etc: My phone number is 266998 * I'm sorry, I think you have the wrong number )= wrong telephone number(. * He dialled the number, then changed his mind and hung up. * What is your account number, please? seealsoBOXNUMBER, E-NUMBER, PIN, REGISTRATIONNUMBER, SERIALNUMBER quantity 4 [C] ~ )of sb/sth( a quantity of people or things: A large number of people have applied for the job. * The number of homeless people has increased dramatically. * Huge numbers of )= very many( animals have died. * A number of )= some( problems have arisen. * I could give you any number of )= a lot of( reasons for not going. * We were eight in number )= there were eight of us(. * Nurses are leaving the profession in increasing numbers. * Sheer weight of numbers )= the large number of soldiers( secured them the victory. * The course will have to be repeated owing to pressure of numbers )= too many students(. * staff / student numbers HELPNOTE A plural verb is needed after a / an )large, small, etc.( number of.... group of people 5 [sing.] )formal( a group or quantity of people: one of our number )= one of us( * The prime minister is elected by MPs from among their number. magazine 6 [C] )BrE( the version of a magazine, etc. published on a particular day, in a particular month, etc. SYNISSUE: the October number of 'Vogue' seealsoBACKNUMBER song / dance 7 [C] a song or dance, especially one of several in a performance: They sang a slow romantic number. thing admired 8 [sing.] )informal( )following one or more adjectives( a thing, such as a dress or a car, that is admired: She was wearing a black velvet number. grammar 9 [U] the form of a word, showing whether one or more than one person or thing is being talked about: The word 'men' is plural in number. * The subject of a sentence and its verb must agree in number. IDIOMS by numbers following a set of simple instructions identified by numbers: painting by numbers have )got( sb's number )informal( to know what sb is really like and what they plan to do: He thinks he can fool me but I've got his number. your number is up )informal( the time has come when you will die or lose everything number one )informal( 1 the most important or best person or thing: We're number one in the used car business. * the world's number one athlete * the number one priority 2 yourself: Looking after number one is all she thinks about. numbers game a way of considering an activity, etc. that is concerned only with the number of people doing sth, things achieved, etc., not with who or what they are: MPs were playing the numbers game as the crucial vote drew closer. moreatCUSHY, OPPOSITEadj., SAFETY, WEIGHTn. verb make a series 1 to give a number to sth as part of a series or list: [VN] All the seats in the stadium are numbered. * Number the car's features from 1 to 10 according to importance. * [V] I couldn't work out the numbering system for the hotel rooms. [also VN-N] make sth as total 2 [V-N] to make a particular number when added together SYNADDUPTOSTH: The crowd numbered more than a thousand. * We numbered 20 )= there were 20 of us in the group(. include 3 ~ )sb/sth( among sth )formal( to include sb/sth in a particular group; to be included in a particular group: [VN] I number her among my closest friends. * [V] He numbers among the best classical actors in Britain. IDIOMS see DAY