twenty

American  

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

noun

• twenties
  plural

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

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• twenties
  plural

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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

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

twenty twenties

To test the idea, the researchers examined twenty tidal disruption events using observations in optical light, ultraviolet light, X-rays, and radio waves.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 21, 2026

But it might also be dinner for an exhausted parent who wants twenty minutes back and misses what the inside of a restaurant tastes like.

From Salon ● Sep. 20, 2026

Only a week ago, Korea announced that in the first twenty days of August alone exports had risen by 56% year over year to $55 billion.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 27, 2026

He told me how, as a boy, he watched Kadim being built for the first time, then watched again as the settlers there were forced out by the government twenty years later.

From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026

It had been a cold week—fifty-three below one night, forty-five below the next two, and never rising above twenty below with wild wind out of the northwest the whole time.

From "Woodsong" by Gary Paulsen

With a budget of $70, Trinyce and Ijeoma, two women in their twenties, said they were trying to find something to decorate their apartment.

From Barron's ● Oct. 11, 2026

Five other men in their twenties were arrested and were subsequently released on police bail.

From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2026

Eight of the 11 people convicted for their involvement last month were in their twenties.

From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026

I was in my late twenties at the time because I’d taken a few detours after I left high school, most of them dead ends.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 5, 2026

As word spread that a young, handsome, and apparently unmarried doctor now stood behind the counter, an increasing number of single women in their twenties began to patronize the store.

From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson

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