number
noun
uk/ˈnʌmbər/ us( abbreviation No.) [ 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.