Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A member of the set of positive integers; one of a series of symbols of unique meaning in a fixed order that can be derived by counting.
- noun A member of any of the following sets of mathematical objects: integers, rational numbers, real numbers, and complex numbers. These sets can be derived from the positive integers through various algebraic and analytic constructions.
- noun Arithmetic.
- noun A symbol or word used to represent a number.
- noun A numeral or a series of numerals used for reference or identification.
- noun A position in an ordered sequence that corresponds to one of the positive integers.
- noun One item in a group or series considered to be in numerical order.
- noun A total; a sum.
- noun An indefinite quantity of units or individuals.
- noun A large quantity; a multitude.
- noun Numerical superiority.
- noun Grammar The indication, as by inflection, of the singularity, duality, or plurality of a linguistic form.
- noun Metrical feet or lines; verses.
- noun Obsolete Poetic meter.
- noun Archaic Musical periods or measures.
- noun Games A numbers game.
- noun One of the separate offerings in a program of music or other entertainment.
- noun Slang A frequently repeated, characteristic speech, argument, or performance.
- noun Slang A person or thing singled out for a particular characteristic.
- intransitive verb To assign a number to or mark with a number.
- intransitive verb To determine the number or amount of; count.
- intransitive verb To total in number or amount; add up to.
- intransitive verb To include in a group or category.
- intransitive verb To limit or restrict in number.
- intransitive verb To call off numbers; count.
- intransitive verb To have as a total; amount to a number.
- idiom (by the numbers) In unison as numbers are called out by a leader.
- idiom (by the numbers) In a strict, step-by-step or mechanical way.
- idiom (do a number on) To defeat, abuse, or humiliate in a calculated and thorough way.
- idiom (get/have) To determine or know someone's real character or motives.
- idiom (without/beyond) Too many to be counted; countless.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To count; reckon; ascertain the number of, or aggregate of individuals in; enumerate.
- To make or keep a reckoning of; count up, as by naming or setting down one by one; make a tally or list of.
- To complete as to number; limit; come to the end of.
- To reckon as one of a collection or multitude; include in a list or class.
- To put a number or numbers on; assign a distinctive number to; mark the order of, as of the members of a series; assign the place of in a numbered series: as, to
number a row of houses, or a collection of books. - To possess to the number of.
- To amount to; reach the number of: as, the force under the command of Cæsar numbered 45,000 men.
- To equal in number.
- Synonyms and To tell, calculate, reckon, call over, sum up.
- noun A term used in the textile-industry to designate the size or fineness of yarn; the number of units of length contained in a given weight of the product.
- noun Same as
complex number (which see, undercomplex ). - noun A sign or symbol for a cardinal number; a sign 1, 2, 3, … or its name ‘one,’ ‘two,’ ‘three,’ …
- noun The cardinal number of a finite set; that property of the set because of which we shall arrive at the same natural number in whatever order we count the set.
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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And the interaction with the customer rep. led me through several instances of Things I Don't Care About: type of my account, account number (I know my _member number_, but not my account numbers), my phone banking password (I call them once a year, roughly, and they still want me to remember a token for them...) et.c...
Making Light: The lily knows not why it blossoms in the spring 2010
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This is because the predicate ˜@ (number of planets)™ is true, at a world w, of whatever the predicate ˜number of planets™ is true of at the actual world.
Names Cumming, Sam 2009
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Never try to find _analytic_ date or number words until you _know the material facts connected with the date or number_ before you.
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Finding that I could not eat, the old lady, who was a "Thompsonian," made me a cup of "composition," or "number six;" but it was so strong and hot, that I called it "_number seven_" However, I soon found myself at home in this family.
The Narrative of William W. Brown, a Fugitive Slave William Wells Brown
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The above expression must therefore be diminished by the number of units in x/4, or by (x/4) _w (this notation being used to denote the quotient, _in a whole number_, that arises from dividing x by 4).
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Part 4 "Bulgaria" to "Calgary" Various
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_Adjectives_ express the _qualities_ which distinguish one person or thing from another; in one form they express quality _without comparison_; in another, they express comparison _between two_, or between _one_ and a number taken collectively, -- and in a third they express comparison between _one_ and a _number_ of others taken separately.
How to Speak and Write Correctly Joseph Devlin
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This would result in twelve columns of equal number of cards, as seen in tableau, _but for the following conditions_: In dealing the first eight cards, count them as you deal, from one to eight, and when any card is suitable for a foundation, or to continue a foundation, play it, counting the next card as the _following number_.
Lady Cadogan's Illustrated Games of Solitaire or Patience New Revised Edition, including American Games Adelaide Cadogan
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But I agree with Mr. Kinnaird perfectly, that the concluding _five hundred_ should be only _conditional_; and for my own sake, I wish it to be added, only in case of your selling a certain number, _that number_ to be fixed by _yourself_.
Life of Lord Byron, Vol. 3 (of 6) With His Letters and Journals Thomas Moore 1815
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If I've been given a boring number, don't even bother to do rounding if [$number = 0]; then
LinuxQuestions.org 2009
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• Changes are usually identified by a number or letter code, termed the \ "revision number\".
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An abundant number is smaller than the sum of its divisors: in my case, the sum of one, two, three, four, and six (twelve’s divisors) is sixteen.
The Myth and Magic of Generating New Ideas Condé Nast 2019
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When I refer to an “Enough” number, I am talking about the amount of money where you can hang up your keyboard and never need to earn another dollar.
My "Enough" Number Andre Nader 2022
oroboros commented on the word number
582 : 285 :: bob : ?
Answer at the '?' link.
December 2, 2007
oroboros commented on the word number
Here's a clue if you need it.
December 2, 2007
yarb commented on the word number
bob?
December 2, 2007
bilby commented on the word number
That would be dod. All we need is a meaning for it now. How about: the process of extinction, tail first, of flightless birds.
December 2, 2007
oroboros commented on the word number
Mirrors swap up for down, not right for left. dod is a further manipulation, therefore incorrect.
December 2, 2007
bilby commented on the word number
On which planet?
December 2, 2007
oroboros commented on the word number
The translation is about the horizontal axis only. Look in a mirror and touch your right ear with your right hand. Apparently (in the mirror) your left hand touches your left ear, but it is in fact still your right hand touching your right ear. It is in this sense that I reject dod. BTW, I love your definition for dod!
More: if you get on an airplane and the flight attendant says your seat is on the right, does she mean airplane right or your right? For aircrews the designation of right and left refers to the airplane right and left, which is opposite to what the passenger sees on boarding...just like a mirror image.
December 2, 2007
bilby commented on the word number
I thought the perception in the mirror was the point. And to demonstrate the hold that Wordie/oroboros have on me, I wrote bob on a piece of paper and went in to the bathroom to check! That's where dod comes from. Oh well, they say mirrors don't lie but mine's been telling quite a few porkies since I passed thirty.
December 2, 2007
oroboros commented on the word number
Haha! Great minds think alike. I did the same thing when I was setting up the puzzle. ;oD
It's complicated and confusing, especially when you start fooling around with other manipulations in the mirror. For example bob can become dod, pop or '909' depending on how you flip the surface it is written on to present it to the mirror! See flipped image v. flopped image here.
December 2, 2007
sionnach commented on the word number
bob shot my pop and now he's dod.
December 2, 2007
yarb commented on the word number
You're sounding strangely Bubby there, sionnach.
December 2, 2007
oroboros commented on the word number
After a number of injections my jaw got number.
August 3, 2010
ruzuzu commented on the word number
Oh wow - my dentist's name is Bob. He really is everywhere.
August 3, 2010
fbharjo commented on the word number
His procedures are subobtuse (obtooths)?
August 3, 2010
ruzuzu commented on the word number
Whoa. I just looked up dod and saw that The Century Dictionary has six definitions:
"1. In tile-making, a mold with an annular throat through which clay is forced to form drain-pipe.
2. To beat; beat out.
3. To cut off; lop; shear.
4. A shell.
5. A fit of ill humor or sullenness.
6. The foxtail reed."
August 5, 2010
mollusque commented on the word number
Try dodman.
August 5, 2010
ruzuzu commented on the word number
Thanks, mollusque - dod shows up again in the etymology for doddered.
August 5, 2010