tons

British  

/ tʌnz /

plural noun

1. a large amount or number:

   tons of money

   I have tons of shoes

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adverb

1. (intensifier)

   I looked and felt tons better

Explanation

If you have tons of something, you have an enormous amount of it, like when you buy tons of ice cream for your birthday party. The informal tons is perfect for exaggerating, making a large quantity sound even bigger. You might say, "I have tons of friends at my new school" or "Your library is tiny — my library has tons more books!" It's a way to play up size or amount while still being vague. Tons comes from ton, which is often used colloquially ("I ate a ton of pasta"), but is also a precise unit for measuring weight.

Example Sentences

In late June, Vladimir Putin estimated Crimea's monthly fuel needs at 70,000 tons and promised to secure supplies to the peninsula by increasing deliveries by both land and sea.

From BBC • Jul. 9, 2026

In two decades as a rescuer, Kevin Meyers had never faced an operation as challenging as helping to free a man trapped under 160 tons of concrete and bricks after the double earthquake in Venezuela.

From Barron's • Jul. 7, 2026

The Black Giant project, in northern Chile’s Antofagasta region, is designed to produce up to 52,500 metric tons of lithium carbonate annually once its first two stages are complete in 2030.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jul. 6, 2026

A single advanced chip fab can draw enormous amounts of water and electricity, and chip production as a whole emits well over 100 million tons of carbon equivalent a year.

From MarketWatch • Jul. 6, 2026

“So I bet Daddy had tons of them, right?”

From "Isaiah Dunn Is My Hero" by Kelly J. Baptist

Related Words

• oodles