abstract number
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of abstract number
First recorded in 1550–60
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Studies show, for example, that people are more likely to help a single person than they are to take action to support a statistically large but abstract number of victims.
From Salon • Apr. 17, 2025
Shortly before his death, he warned of a world where the individual “has lost his individuality and become a mere abstract number in the bureau of statistics.”
From Washington Post • Nov. 27, 2021
Over the next millennium, algebra evolved from the study of the nature of solutions to polynomial equations to the study of abstract number systems.
From Scientific American • Sep. 14, 2021
"This is not an abstract number of cases. We're seeing people pile into intensive care units."
From Fox News • Jun. 15, 2020
The multiplier must be regarded as an abstract number.
From Amusements in Mathematics by Dudeney, Henry Ernest
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
