hundreds and thousands
/ˌhʌndɹəds n̩ ˈθaʊz(ə)n(d)z/
UK: /ˌhʌndɹəds n̩ ˈθaʊz(ə)ndz/
hundreds and thousands
English
Noun
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Definition
An indefinite but emphatically large number.
Etymology
PIE word *ḱm̥tóm From hundreds + and + thousands. Sense 2 (“tiny balls or strands of multicoloured sugar”) is from the fact that the confectionery is made up of numerous sugar pieces.
Example Sentences
- "1864 September 12, W. T. Sherman, letter to James M. Calhoun, E. E. Rawson and S. C. Wells, representing City Council of Atlanta, published in 1865, Joel Tyler Headley, Grant and Sherman: Their Campaigns and Generals, 2008, page 592, I myself have seen in Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Mississippi, hundreds and thousands of women and children fleeing from your armies and desperadoes, hungry, and with bleeding feet."
- "Have there not been hundreds and thousands of people injured in the depression in value of railroad securities?"
- "1949, A.S. Altekar, State and Government in Ancient India, reprinted 2001, page 148, It is clear that the sentence rather refers to numerous favours conferred upon the city and country population, the monetary value of which amounted to hundreds and thousands of rupees or contemporary coins."
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