ten

¹ American  

[ten] / tɛn /

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.

idioms

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

ten. ² American  

abbreviation

1. tenor.

2. Music. tenuto.

---

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

---

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-

---

ten More Idioms  

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

---

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

The British sent tens of thousands of troops, which focused on Basra and southern Iraq, including an armored division.

From The Wall Street Journal

With 41 rallies planned, turnout could rival or exceed previous protests, which have drawn millions nationwide and tens of thousands of participants in downtown Los Angeles.

From Los Angeles Times

People who placed the flurry of futures trades beforehand likely pocketed tens of millions of dollars, according to calculations by a market operator for AFP.

From Barron's

“But we are out of time for the critical responsibilities, and tens of thousands of workers currently going without pay.”

From MarketWatch

Mike Piazza, the slugger expensively coached from boyhood in the modern manner, saw “the silver spoons of his youth smelted into the first of ten consecutive Silver Slugger awards.”

From The Wall Street Journal