twenty

[ twen-tee, twuhn- ]

noun

, plural twen·ties.

1. a cardinal number, 10 times 2.
2. a symbol for this number, as 20 or XX.
3. a set of this many persons or things.
4. Informal. a twenty-dollar bill:

   Can you give me two tens for a twenty?

5. twenties, the numbers, years, degrees, or the like, from 20 through 29, as in referring to numbered streets, indicating the years of a lifetime or of a century, or referring to degrees of temperature:

   He lives in the West Twenties. She's in her early twenties. The temperature must be in the high twenties today.

6. Also 20. Slang. location; ten-twenty ( def ):

   What’s your twenty?

adjective

1. amounting to 20 in number.

twenty

/ ˈtwɛntɪ /

noun

1. See number
   the cardinal number that is the product of ten and two; a score See also number
2. a numeral, 20, XX, etc, representing this number
3. something representing, represented by, or consisting of 20 units

determiner

1. 1. amounting to twenty

      twenty questions

   2. ( as pronoun )

      to order twenty

Word History and Origins

Origin of twenty¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English twēntig; cognate with Old Frisian tw(e)intich, Old High German zweinzug ( German zwanzig ), Gothic twai tigjus two tens

Word History and Origins

Origin of twenty¹

Old English twēntig ; related to Old High German zweinzug , German zwanzig

Example Sentences

Why would “they” want to crush him just for attempting to buy something twenty years ago?

From The Daily Beast

Even the legendary 1980s televisions show Dallas is back on the air, selling its twenty-first century brand of Texas bravado.

From The Daily Beast

A friendly twenty-something woman originally from Toronto said it best.

From The Daily Beast

By the end of the construction period, the number of deaths had reached roughly twenty percent of the workforce.

From The Daily Beast

Twenty-one-and-a-half million students participate in free or reduced-price school lunch programs.

From The Daily Beast

I presume the twenty-five or thirty miles at this end is unhealthy, even for natives, but it surely need not be so.

From Project Gutenberg

Before daybreak we had ridden five and twenty miles, but had been compelled to abandon two more guns.

From Project Gutenberg

On four bells there are four times as many changes as on three; that is—four times six changes, which makes Twenty-four.

From Project Gutenberg

This vessel, loaded with supplies, went ashore and was lost; and one hundred and twenty Japanese and three Dutchmen were drowned.

From Project Gutenberg

I do not think the average number of passengers on a corresponding route in our country could be so few as twenty.

From Project Gutenberg