odd number

[od nuhm-ber]

noun

1. a number that leaves a remainder of 1 when divided by 2.

   7, 13, and 195 are odd numbers.

Word History and Origins

Origin of odd number¹

First recorded in 1350–1400

Example Sentences

Ramaswamy laid out his plans for federal workers in a podcast: “If your Social Security Number ends in an odd number, you're out. If it ends in an even number, you're in. There's a 50% cut right there. Of those who remain, if your Social Security Number starts in an even number, you're in. And if it starts with an odd number, you're out. Boom, that's a 75% reduction, then literally, sarcastically, okay.”

Read more on Salon

Anybody in the federal bureaucracy who is not elected … if your Social Security number ends in an odd number, you’re out.

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Of those who remain, if your Social Security number starts with an even number, you’re in, and if it starts with an odd number, you’re out.

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And then there’s the annoying odd number thing, based on the specious notion that readers are more curious about the specificity of, say, nine and 21 than 10 and 20.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

If there’s an odd number of electrons in the wire, the unpaired electron should essentially split in half to form two separated Majorana quasiparticles—one at each end of the wire.

Read more on Science Magazine