twenty

[ twen-tee, twuhn- ]

/ ˈtwɛn ti, ˈtwʌn- /

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noun, plural twen·ties.

a cardinal number, 10 times 2.

a symbol for this number, as 20 or XX.

a set of this many persons or things.

Informal. a twenty-dollar bill: Can you give me two tens for a twenty?

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.

Also 20 .Slang. location; ten-twenty: What’s your twenty?

adjective

amounting to 20 in number.

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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

Words nearby twenty

twelve-tone, twelve-tone row, twelve-tone technique, twentieth, Twentieth Amendment, twenty, Twenty20, twenty-eight, twenty-eighth, twenty-fifth, Twenty-fifth Amendment

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use twenty in a sentence

Why would “they” want to crush him just for attempting to buy something twenty years ago?
Phylicia Rashad and the Cult of Cosby Truthers|Stereo Williams|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Even the legendary 1980s televisions show Dallas is back on the air, selling its twenty-first century brand of Texas bravado.
Will Texas Stay Texan?|David Fontana|December 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
A friendly twenty-something woman originally from Toronto said it best.
The Craziest Date Night for Single Jews, Where Mistletoe Is Ditched for Shots|Emily Shire|December 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST
By the end of the construction period, the number of deaths had reached roughly twenty percent of the workforce.
Riding Thailand’s WWII Death Railway|Liza Foreman|December 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Twenty-one-and-a-half million students participate in free or reduced-price school lunch programs.
Congress’ Gift That Keeps on Giving|P. J. O’Rourke|December 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST
I presume the twenty-five or thirty miles at this end is unhealthy, even for natives, but it surely need not be so.
Glances at Europe|Horace Greeley
Before daybreak we had ridden five and twenty miles, but had been compelled to abandon two more guns.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. CCCXXXIX. January, 1844. Vol. LV.|Various
On four bells there are four times as many changes as on three; that is—four times six changes, which makes Twenty-four.
Tintinnalogia, or, the Art of Ringing|Richard Duckworth and Fabian Stedman
This vessel, loaded with supplies, went ashore and was lost; and one hundred and twenty Japanese and three Dutchmen were drowned.
The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898, Volume XX, 1621-1624|Various
I do not think the average number of passengers on a corresponding route in our country could be so few as twenty.
Glances at Europe|Horace Greeley

British Dictionary definitions for twenty

twenty

/ (ˈtwɛntɪ) /

noun plural -ties

the cardinal number that is the product of ten and two; a scoreSee also number (def. 1)

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

something representing, represented by, or consisting of 20 units

determiner

amounting to twentytwenty questions
(as pronoun)to order twenty

Other words from twenty

Related adjectives: vicenary, vigesimalRelated prefix: icosa-

Word Origin for twenty

Old English twēntig; related to Old High German zweinzug, German zwanzig

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012