twenty

American  

[twen-tee, twuhn-] / ˈtwɛn ti, ˈtwʌn- /

noun

plural

twenties

1. a cardinal number, 10 times 2.

2. a symbol for this number, as 20 or XX.

3. a set of this many persons or things.

4. Informal. a twenty-dollar bill.

   Can you give me two tens for a twenty?

5. twenties, the numbers, years, degrees, or the like, from 20 through 29, as in referring to numbered streets, indicating the years of a lifetime or of a century, or referring to degrees of temperature.

   He lives in the West Twenties. She's in her early twenties. The temperature must be in the high twenties today.

6. Slang. Also 20 location; ten-twenty.

   What’s your twenty?

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adjective

1. amounting to 20 in number.

twenty British  

/ ˈtwɛntɪ /

noun

1. the cardinal number that is the product of ten and two; a score See also number

2. a numeral, 20, XX, etc, representing this number

3. something representing, represented by, or consisting of 20 units

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determiner

1. 1. amounting to twenty

      twenty questions

   2. ( as pronoun )

      to order twenty

Etymology

Origin of twenty

First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English twēntig; cognate with Old Frisian tw(e)intich, Old High German zweinzug ( German zwanzig ), Gothic twai tigjus two tens

Example Sentences

About twenty years later, scientists reported analyses of additional bones from the same discovery, including forearm bones known as ulnae and a thigh bone called the femur.

From Science Daily

In his early twenties, Wirun collapsed on a bus and was diagnosed with a brain tumour.

From Barron's

A book that will put you through the emotional wringer, Brar says it was inspired "by the love my father had in running his sub-Post Office for over twenty years".

From BBC

Longer term, the use of Artificial Intelligence to analyse real-time and historical data to prioritise buses and reduce delays - as is being tested at more than twenty junctions in Glasgow - will also make a difference.

From BBC

Over the past few months, around twenty hearings have been held with Indigenous organizations and those in favor of the time-frame doctrine.

From Barron's