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• ten
  ten

  noun

  a cardinal number, nine plus one.
• ten.
  ten.

  abbreviation

  tenor.
• ten-
  ten-

  combining form

  a variant of teno-

ten

¹ American  

[ten] / tɛn /

noun

• tens
  plural

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.

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adjective

1. amounting to ten in number.

idioms

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

ten. ² American  

abbreviation

1. tenor.

2. Music. tenuto.

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ten ¹ British  

/ 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

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determiner

1. 1. amounting to ten

      ten tigers

   2. ( as pronoun )

      to sell only ten

ten- ² British  

combining form

1. a variant of teno-

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ten More Idioms  

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

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• tens
  plural

Etymology

Origin of ten

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

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

ten ten. ten- tens

He said both of his parents died in the past ten years — his dad had Alzheimer’s disease and his mother had liver failure.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 4, 2026

"You want to see what it looks like ten years in the future? Tuvalu is a time machine for Australia."

From Barron's ● Oct. 4, 2026

For example, performing 20 to 25 repetitions with a lighter weight can produce similar improvements to lifting a heavier weight ten times, provided the effort is high.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 2, 2026

It is nearly ten years since the Grenfell Tower fire, but almost 3,000 tower blocks in the UK with dangerous cladding still need to be fixed.

From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026

They hadn’t gone ten paces before they knew that it didn’t want them.

From "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver

"Ten out of ten. A masterpiece," said Harry, a Chinese fan living in London.

From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026

"The length of the train is always different. Sometimes it's two, sometimes it's ten. It depends on the initial conditions."

From Science Daily ● Jun. 19, 2024

“The U.S. military is more sophisticated by a magnitude of ten. Having said that, no one should think that war in Iran is going to be quick and easy,” McRaven said.

From Washington Post ● Aug. 1, 2019

After a short run by Lynch, Wilson gets sacked by Short and Seattle takes a loss of ten. 3rd and 19: Wilson finds Jackson but he’s short of the first down.

From The Guardian ● Jan. 17, 2016

"That will only be half-price then. Five dollars, instead of ten. Shall I bill you?"

From "The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath

"If you believe that we're going to have a fully renewable future, then you're planning for the wind and solar markets to expand by at least five to ten- fold from where it is today."

From Science Daily ● Mar. 22, 2024

Round the distance to the nearest ⓐ hundred-million ⓑ ten- million; and ⓒ million.

From Textbooks ● Apr. 22, 2020

Disco music normalized the idea of a ten- or twelve-minute jam spread over a twelve-inch vinyl single.

From The New Yorker ● Dec. 31, 2018

Its mapping system divides the country into four zones: areas of ten-, 100-, and 200-year floods, and all those beyond.

From Economist ● Sep. 7, 2017

Ms. Keen drops ten- pound hints that the test will focus on seeds.

From "Speak" by Laurie Halse Anderson

But executives legally buy or sell tens of billions of dollars worth of their own companies’ shares each year.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026

His announcement came after tens of thousands of people marched in Madrid and other cities on Saturday demanding action on housing affordability.

From Barron's ● Oct. 5, 2026

Okinawa is home to several US military bases and tens of thousands of American troops.

From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2026

Mejuri rejiggered parts of a supply chain through which tens of thousands of ounces of gold flow each year.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 4, 2026

Einarsson and Sverrisson pointed out, though, that the apartment was in extremely poor condition and would need repairs amounting to tens of thousands of dollars.

From "Endgame" by Frank Brady