ten

¹

[ten]

noun

1. a cardinal number, nine plus one.

2. a symbol for this number, as 10 or X.

3. a set of this many persons or things.

4. a playing card with ten pips.

5. Informal.,  a ten-dollar bill.

   She had two tens and a five in her purse.

6. Also called ten's place. Mathematics.

   1. (in a mixed number) the position of the second digit to the left of the decimal point.

   2. (in a whole number) the position of the second digit from the right.

adjective

1. amounting to ten in number.

ten.

²

abbreviation

1. tenor.

2. Music.,  tenuto.

ten

¹

/ tɛn /

noun

1. the cardinal number that is the sum of nine and one. It is the base of the decimal number system and the base of the common logarithm See also number

2. a numeral, 10, X, etc, representing this number

3. something representing, represented by, or consisting of ten units, such as a playing card with ten symbols on it

4. Also called: ten o'clock. ten hours after noon or midnight

determiner

1. 1. amounting to ten

      ten tigers

   2. ( as pronoun )

      to sell only ten

ten-

²

combining form

1. a variant of teno-

Word History and Origins

Origin of ten¹

before 900; Middle English ten ( e ), tenn ( e ), Old English tēn ( e ), tīen ( e ); cognate with Dutch tien, German zehn, Old Norse tīu, Gothic taihun, Latin decem, Greek déka, Sanskrit daśa

Word History and Origins

Origin of ten¹

Old English tēn; related to Old Saxon tehan, Old High German zehan, Gothic taihun, Latin decem, Greek deka, Sanskrit dasa

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. take ten, to rest from what one is doing, especially for ten minutes.

see count to ten; not touch with a ten-foot pole.

Example Sentences

Mr De Wet said he was asked by Mr Olivier to help him throw the body inside the enclosure where eight to ten big adult pigs were kept.

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The past decade comprises the ten hottest individual years ever recorded.

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Several drugmakers, including Eli Lilly and Johnson & Johnson, announced plans to spend tens of billions of dollars on U.S. manufacturing and research in the coming years as a show of cooperation.

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Along with tens of millions across America and hundreds of millions across the globe, I watched this event unfold on television.

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While Stanford became wealthy and famous, most work was done by tens of thousands of Chinese immigrants who comprised 90% of the workforce building the Western portion.

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