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ten (iou)



ten adjective & noun ( cardinal numeral).

A. adjective. One more than nine (a cardinal numeral represented by 10 in arabic numerals, x, X in roman). OE.
ten feet tall full of self-assurance or pride. Ten Words: see WORD noun. the Ten Commandments: see COMMANDMENT 2. the Ten Tribes: see TRIBE noun. upper ten thousand: see UPPER adjective.
J. Conrad I was only ten years old. New Yorker The strikers returned to work after ten days. Guardian Ten people were arrested and three police officers injured.
b. noun.
Ten persons or things identified contextually, as parts or divisions, years of age, points, runs, etc., in a game, chances (in giving odds), minutes, inches, shillings (now Hist.), pence, etc. OE.
nine times out of ten: see NINE adjective. ten to one ten chances to one; odds of ten times the amount of a bet; very probably. the Ten (now Hist.) the group of countries forming the European Economic Community between 1981 and 1985 following the admission of Greece and until the withdrawal of Greenland. top ten: see TOP noun1 & adjective. upper ten: see UPPER adjective.
H. Kemelman I was divorced from his motherhe was ten at the time. J. le Carre The time was ten to eleven.
One more than nine as an abstract number; the symbol(s) or figure(s) representing this (10 in arabic numerals, x, X, in roman). OE.
count ten, count up to ten enumerate one to ten, esp. in order to check oneself from speaking impetuously.
W. Golding Investing tens of millions of dollars.
b. In pl. The digit second from the right of a whole number in decimal notation, representing a multiple of ten less than a hundred. M16.
A set of ten; a thing having a set of ten as an essential or distinguishing feature; spec. (a) a playing-card marked with ten pips or spots; (b) a ten-oared boat; (c) a ten-pound note, a ten-dollar bill. OE.
ten a penny: see PENNY noun. ten out of ten ten marks or points out of ten; full marks.
T. McGuane The gulls came..by the tens and twenties. J. Archer The young man drew a ten and asked for another card. Which? More than eight out of ten agreed that on-the-spot fines should be given.
The time of day ten hours after midnight or midday (on a clock, watch, etc., indicated by the numeral ten displayed or pointed to). Also ten o'clock. LME.
ten o'clock swill: see SWILL noun.
Thackeray It was ten o'clock when he woke up.
The tenth of a set or series with numbered members, the one designated ten, (usu. number ten, or with specification, as book ten, chapter ten, etc.); a size etc. denoted by ten, a shoe, glove, garment, etc., of such a size (also size ten). E16.
Number ten: see NUMBER noun.
Each of a set of ten; spec. a candle of which ten constitute a pound in weight. E19.
Comb.: Forming compound numerals with multiples of a hundred, as 210 (read two hundred and ten, US also two hundred ten), etc. With nouns + -ER1 forming nouns with the sense 'something (identified contextually) being of or having ten s', as ten-seater, ten-wheeler, etc. Special combs., as ten-code a code of signals (all beginning 'ten') orig. used in US police radio communication and later adopted by citizens' band radio operators; ten-eighty, 1080 [a laboratory serial number] sodium fluoroacetate used as a potent poison for rodents and other mammals; ten-finger a starfish with ten arms; ten-foot adjective measuring, or having, ten feet; would not touch with a ten-foot pole: see POLE noun1 1; ten-four, 10-4 interjection in the ten-code, message received; loosely, expr. affirmation; ten-gallon adjective that can contain ten gallons; ten-gallon hat, ten-gallon sombrero, a high-crowned, wide-brimmed hat of a kind esp. worn by cowboys; ten-gauge adjective (of a bullet, shell, gun, etc.) having a calibre such that ten bullets etc. of matching size weigh one pound; ten-inch adjective measuring ten inches; spec. (Hist.) designating a gramophone record, usu. a seventy-eight, having this diameter; ten-minute rule, ten-minutes rule a rule of the House of Commons allowing brief discussion of a motion to introduce a bill, each speech being limited to ten minutes; ten o'clock (a) see sense B.4 above; (b) any of several plants whose flowers open late in the morning; esp. (W. Indies) a kind of purslane, Portulaca grandiflora; (c) a light meal taken at ten o'clock; tenpence (a) ten pence, esp. of the old British currency before decimalization; (b) (usu. two words) since 1968, a coin worth ten (new) pence; tenpenny adjective & noun (a) adjective worth or costing tenpence or ten (new) pence; tenpenny nail [orig. costing tenpence per hundred] a large nail; (b) noun a coin worth tenpence or ten (new) pence; ten per center US Theatrical slang a theatrical agent, esp. one who takes ten per cent commission; tenpin (a) in pl. (usu. treated as sing.), a game in which ten pins or skittles are set up and bowled at to be knocked down (also tenpin bowling); (b) a pin or skittle used in this game (usu. in pl.); ten-pointer a stag having antlers with ten points; ten-pound adjective of or involving the amount or value of ten pounds; weighing ten pounds; ten-pounder (a) a thing weighing ten pounds; spec. (N. Amer.) either of two fishes of the genus Elops, related to the tarpon and found in the warmer parts of the Pacific and Atlantic; (b) a gun throwing a shot that weighs ten pounds; (c) a thing that is worth ten pounds; spec. a ten-pound note; ten signal US a signal that forms part of the ten-code; ten-speed a set of gears on a vehicle, esp. a bicycle, with ten different speeds (freq. attrib.); ten-spot adjective & noun (a) adjective having ten spots; (b) noun (N. Amer.) a ten-dollar bill; a playing-card with ten spots; ten-strike in the game of tenpins, a throw which bowls over all the pins; fig. a success (US colloq.); ten tenth(s) adjective complete, one hundred per cent; ten-to-two a position of the hands (esp. on the steering wheel of a car) or feet resembling that of the hands of a clock at ten minutes to two (freq. attrib.); ten-twenty = TWENTY noun 6; ten-week stock a form of Brompton stock, Matthiola incana, grown as an annual; ten-year adjective of ten years' duration or standing.
tenfold adjective, noun, adverb, & verb (a) adjective ten times as great or as numerous; loosely many times as great; having ten parts, divisions, elements, or units; (b) noun a tenfold amount; (c) adverb to ten times the number or quantity; (d) verb trans. increase tenfold: OE.
tenner noun (colloq.) (a) a ten-pound note, a ten-dollar bill; (b) a period of ten years: M19.