| 释义 |
▪ I. number, n.|ˈnʌmbə(r)|
Forms: α. 3–5 noumbre (4–6 -ber, 5 -bur), 5 nounbre; 4–5 nowmbre (5 -ber, 5–6 -bur); 3–6 nombre (5–6 -bur, -byr, 5–7 -ber); 4 numbur (-bir, -bere), 4–6 numbre, 4– number. β. 4–5 nowmyre, 4 -mir, 5–6 -mer(e, 5 noumer; 4 nomir (6 -er, 6 Sc. -mer); 5–6 nummer (6 -meir, 6 Sc. -mir).
[f. OF. nombre, nonbre, numbre, numere:—L. numerum, acc. sing. of numerus, a number. Cf. Du. nommer, G., Dan., Sw., Norw. nummer.]
I.
1. a. The precise sum or aggregate of any collection of individual things or persons.
α1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 1397 As wel..Vor loue of þe panes as to wite þe noumbre of eche manne [v.r. þe menne]. a1300Cursor M. 503 Þe numbre þat out of heuen fell Þo can na tung in erth noght tell. c1340Hampole Pr. Consc. 7436 Þe noumbre of payns þat þare griefes Passes þe mens witt þat here liefes. c1380Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. II. 139 Þis noumbre of fishis þat here weren taken, bitokeneþ þe noumbre of seintis. 1422tr. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv. 129 Xerses, kynge of Inde,..strongly gederid huge hostis of whych no man couth tell the nombyr. 1486Bk. St. Albans e ij, The moore nombur than ywis, the gretter the beuy is. 1529More Suppl. Souls Wks. 307/2 He sayth that then shall the nomber of sore and sick beggers decreace. 1593Shakes. Rich. II, i. iii. 210 Thy sad aspect, Hath from the number of his banish'd yeares Pluck'd foure away. 1667Milton P.L. iii. 706 What created mind can comprehend Thir number. 1700Dryden Pref. Fables, I found, by the number of my verses, that they began to swell into a little volume. 1796Southey Lett. fr. Spain (1790) 441 The number of fools is infinite. a1844in Stephens Bk. Farm II. 71 The number of hurdles required for feeding sheep on turnips is [etc.]. 1891E. Peacock Narcissa Brendon I. 114 The number of books was very large.
pl.1597Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, iv. i. 4 Send discouerers forth, To know the numbers of our Enemies. a1719Addison (J.), There is but one gate for strangers to enter at, that it may be known what numbers of them are in the town. 1815Elphinstone Acc. Caubul (1842) II. 98 Their numbers are not less than thirty thousand families.
βc1400Mandeville (Roxb.) vi. 18 Þare was sum tyme fyue sowdanes after þe noumer of þe fyue kyngdomes. 1513Douglas æneis xi. vii. 77 Of thar schippis the nummeir and maner. 1552Lyndesay Monarche 6229 Thow knew the nomer of predestinat, Quhome thow did call.
b. pl. The title of the fourth book in the Bible, the earlier part of which contains a census of the Israelites. † Also in sing.
c1400Bible (Wycl.) Num. Prol., This book clepid Numeri, that is to seie, the book of Noumbre. 1502Ord. Crysten Men (W. de W. 1506) iv. xxi. X j b, The auncyent testament in the .xxv. chapitre of nombres. 1563Homilies ii. Idolatry iii. (1859) 175 As it is written in the book of Numbers, the twenty-third chapter, that there was no idol in Jacob. 1589Cooper Admon. 127 In the Nombers, he that brake the Sabbath day, was stoned to death. 1649Roberts Clavis Bibl. 52 Numbers,..so called because a great part of the Book, especially at the beginning, is spent in Numbring of the Tribes and Families of Israel. 1727–38Chambers Cycl. s.v. Pentateuch, The five books of Moses..; viz. Genesis,..Numbers, and Deuteronomy. 1840Penny Cycl. XVII. 426/2 The book of Deuteronomy supposes the previous composition of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers. 1875Encycl. Brit. III. 638/1 The Levitico-Elohistic document, which embraces most of the laws in Leviticus with large parts of Exodus and Numbers.
c. A census or enumeration of persons. rare—1.
1831Buttrick Voy. 33 Two gentlemen undertook to take a number of these people, and found it to be about twelve hundred.
2. a. A particular sum or aggregate of units, of a kind specified or implied in the context.
a1300Cursor M. 423 Þis numbre þat he ordend þan Suld be bath of angel and man. 1393Langl. P. Pl. C. xxiii. 255 In mesure god made alle manere þynges, And sette hit at a sertayn and at a syker numbre. 1595Shakes. John ii. i. 347 Wee'l put thee downe, gainst whom these Armes wee beare, Or adde a royall number to the dead. 1822Shelley Faust ii. 408 Quite a new piece, the last of seven, for 'tis The custom now to represent that number. 1861F. Metcalfe Oxonian in Iceland (1867) 166, 1200 people were invited to the Grave-ale, the greatest number that ever came to such a ceremony in Iceland.
b. In phr. the number of (so many).
1426Catal. Deeds P.R.O. IV. 547 [He may] send who that he will undir the nowmbre of a dozen persons. 1470–85Malory Arthur xii. vii. 601 Whanne this crye was made vnto Ioyous yle drewe knyghtes to the nomber of fyue honderd. c1530Ld. Berners Arth. Lyt. Bryt. 481 Al thys company were to the numbre of xv. thousande Knightes. 1582N. Lichefield tr. Castanheda's Conq. E. Ind. i. vii. 18 b, Where also then were in sight the number of twentie Moores skirmishing with their dartes.
3. a. A sum or total of abstract units.
golden number: see golden a. 6.
13..Cursor M. 419 (Gött.), Þat suld be a numbre hale, And mani thousand to haue in tale. a1380in Horstm. Altengl. Leg. (1878) 63/1 Of þe mesures of figures and musek, And of alle þe noumbres ek. 1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xix. cxviii. (1495) 922 The seconde odde nombre, that is the nombre of fiue and hyghte Quinarius. c1420York Myst. xliv. 9 For parfite noumbre it is none, Off elleuen for to lere. 1570Billingsley Euclid vii. def. 17. 186 When two numbers multiplying them selues..produce an other: the number produced is called a plaine or super⁓ficiall number. 1598Shakes. Merry W. v. i. 3, I hope good lucke lies in odde numbers. 1608D. T. Ess. Pol. & Mor. 46 Themselues alone will be thought the Numbers, that giue a substantiall existence to the being of them all. 1667Milton P.L. viii. 114 Distance inexpressible By Numbers that have name. 1753Chambers Cycl. Suppl. App. s.v., The figurate Numbers of any order may be found without computing those of the preceding orders. 1820Shelley Œd. Tyr. i. 128 If you were to dream Of a particular number in the Lottery, You would not buy the ticket? 1859B. Smith Arith. & Alg. (ed. 6) 35 A Mixed Number is composed of a whole number and a fraction.
b. In pl. as a subject of study or science.
1377Langl. P. Pl. B. xix. 234 Some to dyuyne and diuide, noumbres to kenne. c1391Chaucer Astrol. Prol., I haue perceiued well by certeyne euidences thine abilite to lerne sciencez touchinge noumbres & proporciouns. 1693Pepys Let. to Newton 22 Nov., The late project..has almost extinguished..at all places of public conversation in this town, especially among men of numbers, every other talk. 1711Steele Spect. No. 174 ⁋5 None of all these Things could be done by him without the Exercise of his Skill in Numbers. 1776Johnson in Boswell 16 Mar., We may instance the science of numbers, which all minds are equally capable of attaining.
c. line of numbers, Gunter's line.
1667Leybourn (title), The Line of Proportion or Numbers, commonly called Gunter's Line, made easie. By which may be measured all manner of Superficies and Solids. 1688, etc. [see Gunter]. 1828Moore Pract. Navig. 91 The diff. of long. 419 on the line of numbers.
d. A symbol or figure, or collection of these, which represents graphically an arithmetical total; a ticket or label bearing such signs.
1837Dickens Pickw. ii, A strange specimen of the human race..with a brass label and number round his neck. 1854Orr's Circ. Sci., Math. Sci. 5 Figures thus have..a value depending upon the places they occupy in a number. 1864J. Donaldson Chr. Lit. I. 214 The appeal to the Greek letters as numbers, is conclusive proof of the writer's habitual use of the Greek Scriptures.
e. U.S. slang. Usu. in pl. An illegal form of gambling in which bets are taken on the occurrence of numbers in a lottery or in the financial columns of a newspaper. Esp. in phr. to play the numbers. Also called numbers game, racket. Cf. policy n.2 1 c. Freq. attrib. and Comb., as number(s)-man; numbers drop, a session of such betting; number(s)-runner, one who collects the bets of those playing the numbers.
1897Ade Pink Marsh 170 She tell Belle 'at she heah I like gin an' roll'e bones an' play numbehs. 1926C. Van Vechten Nigger Heaven 286 Numbers, a gambling game highly popular in contemporary Harlem. The winning numbers each day are derived from the New York Clearing House bank exchanges and balances..published in the newspapers. 1934Sun (Baltimore) 25 Aug. 1/2 Hawkins..identified himself as a ‘pay-off man’ in the ‘numbers business’. 1935Time 21 Jan. 45/1 In Danville, Va., operators of a ‘numbers’ game were bankrupt. 1949E. E. Blanche You can't Win 70 The ‘numbers’ racket is known by different names in various sections of the country—The Numbers Policy, Clearing House, Butter and Eggs, and the Bug. 1950H. E. Goldin Dict. Amer. Underworld Lingo 146 Number-man, anyone engaged in the policy numbers racket. 1958S. Ellin Eighth Circle (1959) ii. v. 65 He was saying something about the numbers game... The bolita. 1958R. Ellison in A. Dundes Mother Wit (1973) 63/1 As a numbers runner he is a bringer of manna and a worker of miracles. 1959Times Lit. Suppl. 16 Jan. 29/3 The ‘numbers’ do for Harlem what the pools do for Notting Hill Gate—and for that matter Knightsbridge as well—provide unsustaining nourishment for dreams. 1959Listener 28 May 924/2, I wonder how many people now remember that prominent feature of American life in the 'thirties—the numbers racket. 1964O. Harrington in J. H. Clarke Harlem 90 One of the local numbers runners dug my cartoon and..nobody covers as much Harlem territory as the numbers man. 1965‘Malcolm X’ Autobiogr. 52 Betting my dollar a day on the numbers. 1968P. Oliver Screening Blues iv. 134 The policy writers and numbers runners who took the bet by a rapid code of signals in the street or at the ‘numbers drop’ would urge them to play other numbers and at higher stakes. 1970L. Meriwether Daddy was Number Runner 21 Mother played the numbers like everyone else in Harlem but she was scared about Daddy being a number runner. 1973Black Panther 22 Sept. 8/3 A panel of prominent lawyers recommended last week that the District of Columbia legalize ‘the numbers’ racket. 1975New Yorker 29 Sept. 54/3 She had met Delgado while she was selling numbers on the streets of the lower East Side.
f. Austral. and N.Z. Elementary arithmetic taught to children in primary school.
1922N.Z. Education Gaz. 1 Dec. 137/1 Miss Caldwell has published a book entitled ‘The Simplicity of Number’, a copy of which, along with the apparatus, can..be obtained from her by teachers. 1963B. Pearson Coal Flat iv. 63 You'd best make sure of his reading and his number and see if he's good enough for this class.
4. a. The particular mark or symbol, having an arithmetical value, by which anything has a place assigned to it in a series.
c1391Chaucer Astrol. i. §8 The nombres of the degres of tho signes ben writen in Augrim aboue. 1830Marryat King's Own xxxix, A strange sail, who had not..shown her number. 1837Dickens Pickw. ii, Would any body believe as an informer 'ud go about in a man's cab, not only takin' down his number, but ev'ry word he says into the bargain? 1850― Dav. Copp. xix, Where does he sleep? What's his number? 1880Standard 17 Dec., If anybody imagines that it is easy to ‘take’ a Policeman's ‘number’ he had better try the experiment. 1898G. B. Shaw Philanderer in Plays Unpleasant iii. 135 Julia... What is Dr Paramore's number in Savile Row? Charteris. Seventy-nine. 1908E. F. Benson Blotting Bk. i. 16, I saw one policeman trying to take my number. 1973R. Lewis Blood Money iv. 47 ‘Could it be the number of the hire-car he used?’..‘It's a Leeds number.’
b. Naut. Of a ship: to make her number, (a) to communicate by signal the figure by which she is registered; in later use also transf. in phr. to make one's number, to report one's arrival, to report for duty, to pay a duty or courtesy call, to make oneself known, to make oneself acquainted (colloq.); (b) to obtain a good place on the shipping register.
1836Marryat Pirate xvii, The Enterprise had made her number. 1861J. Lamont Seasons with Sea-Horses xviii. 293 We found that the ‘Anna Louise’ had only made her number twelve hours before us. 1880Daily Tel. 14 Apr. 5/5 The good ship had a first-rate captain, a skilled crew, was well found and fitted, and she may ‘make her number’ yet. 1897P. E. Stevenson Deep-Water Voyage 29 We made our number, where from, where bound, and ‘all well’ to the steamer, which hoisted her pennant immediately. 1927B. M. Chambers Salt Junk xxx. 256 Almost every ship on her way to and from South America makes her number to the island [Fernando Noronha]. 1937C. S. Forester Happy Return xxiv. 281 The Lydia made her number, and the sound of the salutes began to roll slowly round the bay. 1942Partridge in New Statesman 1 Aug. 75/1 ‘To make one's number’ is still slang; it may be used absolutely, as in ‘As soon as I join my unit I must make my number at Brigade’, or in reference to a person, as in ‘I must lose no time in making my number with one of the Staff Officers at Division’—in short, to contact him... By the way, one ‘makes one's number’ with one's opposite number, a phrase taken over from civil life. 1945‘N. Shute’ Most Secret ix. 211 Captain (D.) was there to see them off; I made my number with him as representing V.A.C.O. and we stood chatting for a time. 1951H. Jordan Islander ii. vii. 92 Jim brought his ketch..alongside the Islander soon after breakfast and made his number to the master. 1955E. Waugh Officers & Gentlemen i. vi. 56 You go ahead and make your number with your CO. 1958M. Dickens Man Overboard xii. 192 Ben saw himself on Speech Day, making his number with mothers in garden-party hats. 1963P. McCutchan Man from Moscow ix. 87 On arrival in Moscow..Shaw made his number at the W.I.O.C.A. office. 1965B. Sweet-Escott Baker Street Irregular vii. 224 We turned back and made our number with the navy there. 1974D. Seaman Bomb that could Lip-Read xviii. 177 ‘Will you go to the conference site today?’ ‘Might as well make my number with the R.U.C.’
c. to lose the number of one's mess, to die, to perish. So to settle etc., to cause one's death.
1834Marryat P. Simple xxxiii, I have an idea that some of us will lose the number of our mess. 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. 501 Losing the number of the mess is a phrase for dying suddenly; being killed or drowned. 1881J. F. T. Keane Six Mths. in Meccah 60 Fetching me one on the skull, that would have ‘settled the number of my mess’, but for the thickness of my too attractive head-dress.
d. With reference to a lottery number, or some other number by or with which one may be identified, as an army number, esp. in fig. phr. one's number is (or has gone) up, one is doomed (to die), one's time is come, one is ‘done for’; one's number is on (something, esp. a bullet or shell), one is doomed (to die, or to a particular destiny). Cf. name n. 1 g.
1806C. Lamb Let. 25 Jan. in Works (1870) II. 89 Though this is a lottery to which none but G. Barnett would choose to trust his all, there is no harm just to call in at Despair's office for a friend, and see if his number is come up. 1899C. Rook Hooligan Nights iv. 56 You couldn't tallygraft to Billy no more. His number's up awright, wiv no error. 1914London Opinion XL. 231/2 The late Patsey Cadogan, who left {pstlg}100,000 when his number went up. 1915‘Bartimeus’ Tall Ship i. 11, I think our number's up, old thing. 1922Wodehouse Girl on Boat xi. 181 Fate had dealt him a knock-out blow; his number was up. 1925Fraser & Gibbons Soldier & Sailor Words 163 Name (or number) on, to have one's, said of a bullet that hit a man; i.e., that it was destined for him. 1929Mercury Story Bk. 98 It was about midday that I first realised that his number was up. 1937V. Bartlett This is my Life xi. 188 The Director-General said that he would nevertheless like me to broadcast a short talk under my own name... My number was up. 1965Brophy & Partridge Long Trail 154 Number on. A fatalistic but consolatory superstition insisted that no man need fear any bullet or shell, however close it came, unless it had his regimental number (or his name and number) engraved on it. 1965F. Sargeson Memoirs of Peon vi. 138 She was forgiven for insisting upon her husband's undertaking the labour which had unfortunately sent his number up. 1966Listener 23 June 923/2 The endless stream of cars and lorries swept on, only momentarily slowed down when the number of one of them came up... It was the arbitrariness of accident. 1974C. Fremlin By Horror Haunted 15 I'm as safe here as..any where..if it's got your number on it, you'll get it, no matter where you are! 1975J. Aiken Voices in Empty House xviii. 331 He'd got leukaemia. He knew his number was up.
e. In fig. use in phr. to get (take, have) someone's number, to make a correct appraisal of someone's character, motives or intentions, to size someone up.
1853Dickens Bleak Ho. lvii. 550 Whenever a person proclaims to you ‘In worldly matters I'm a child,’..that person is only a crying off from being held accountable, and..you have got that person's number, and it's Number One. 1889‘Mark Twain’ Yankee xxxiv. 405 Let him go, for the present; I took his number, so to speak. Ibid. xxxv. 414 That was the sort of master we had. I took his number. 1912C. Mathewson Pitching in a Pinch i. 4 ‘I've got your number now, Matty!’ he shouted at me as he drew up at second base. 1920W. Hard Raymond Robins' Own Story 190 To hurt Bolshevism you need at least to get its number. 1921R. D. Paine Comr. Rolling Ocean viii. 129 Do you remember the day before when he made that crack at you in front of Miss Crozier? I had his number right then. 1934J. M. Cain Postman always rings Twice ii. 15 She knew what I meant, and she knew I had her number. 1939I. Baird Waste Heritage vi. 74 ‘Never mind who I am,’ Matt said, ‘I got your number anyway.’ 1956W. Graham Sleeping Partner xiii. 111, I was trying to think of a verse all last night... I can't think who wrote it, but he rather got my number. 1970G. Jackson Let. 29 May in Soledad Brother (1971) 265 Big Brother. He is rather transparent. I have his number. 1975Times Lit. Suppl. 21 Mar. 332/4 Field-Marshal Lord Montgomery..had [Augustus] John's number right away. ‘Who is this chap?’ he demanded to know. ‘He drinks, he's dirty, and I know there are women in the background!’
f. A number assigned to a particular telephone (or group of telephones) which corresponds to the terminals of its line at the exchange and in modern systems is dialled by a caller in order to establish a connection with it and cause it to ring; number-unobtainable signal or tone, a sound indicating to a caller that the number dialled is unobtainable for a reason other than its being engaged; similarly number-engaged signal; wrong number , a number obtained other than the one required by the caller.
1879Times 8 Sept. 12/1 The person at No. 2 calls the attention of the attendant at the exchange by means of an electric bell. At the same moment a shutter on the switch⁓board falls and discloses the number of the applicant. Ibid., So with any other numbers; they can be instantly connected or disconnected. 1884List of Subscribers (London & Globe Telephone Co.) 4 Take telephones from hooks and speak at once, giving number of subscriber wanted. 1891[see engaged ppl. a. 3]. 1911W. J. Locke Glory of Clementina Wing 324 She..took up the telephone and gave a number. 1930Wodehouse Very Good, Jeeves! vi. 169 A woman has tossed my heart lightly away, but what of it?..The voice of Love seemed to call to me, but it was a wrong number. 1930Gloss. Terms Telegraphs & Telephones (B.S.I.) 47/1 Number-unobtainable tone. 1932E. Bowen To North vi. 63 Markie, too well advised to encounter Cecilia over the wire, soon traced Emmeline to her number at Woburn Place. 1942A. Christie Body in Library i. 12 Miss Marple's telephone rang... ‘It must be,’ Miss Marple decided, ‘a wrong number.’ 1959H. Hobson Mission House Murder xiv. 92 The phone..has been giving the number-engaged signal for over half an hour. 1965Mrs. L. B. Johnson White House Diary 3 June (1970) 283, I tried to reach him, or rather his wife, to no avail. The number didn't answer. 1969‘D. Rutherford’ Gilt-Edged Cockpit viii. 148 He listened..to the high whine of the ‘number unobtainable’ signal, knowing that she had left the receiver off. 1972H. MacInnes Message from Málaga xii. 183 The telephone will ring... I shall..apologize for speaking to a wrong number. 1972‘W. Haggard’ Protectors iii. 38 Phone me at once... You know the number.
g. to lose one's number, to make a gaffe, to lose stock. rare.
a1936Kipling Something of Myself (1937) iv. 86 He produced a bottle of real Tokay, which I tasted, and lost my number badly by saying that it reminded me of some medicinal wine.
5. a. Prefixed to a numeral, as number two or No. 2 (see no.), for the purpose of designating things or persons by the place assigned to them in an arithmetical series.
1390Gower Conf. III. 125 Of Signes in the nombre ellevene Aquarius hath take his place. 1677Moxon Mech. Exerc. ii. 20 The true square..as you were taught [in] Numb. 1..is a great ornament. 1707Mortimer Husb. (1721) I. 162 Sometimes the best Madder is worth eight or nine Pounds a hundred, and the Number O six Pound Ten Shillings. 1710Swift Jrnl. to Stella 15 Sept., I forgot to mark my two former letters; but I remember this is number 3. 1836Dickens Pickw. x, Number twenty-two wants his boots. 1867Mabel's Progress III. 5 It is hard to say..why this especial house should have been Number Nine at all, seeing there were to be but six houses in the row. 1890‘R. Boldrewood’ Col.-Reformer (1891) 288 [We] are having a glass of champagne; will you join us?—it is ‘number two’. 1930E. H. Young Miss Mole ix. 79 She sometimes saw No. 16 [sc. the person living at that house] trundling towards the back gate, she sometimes heard him calling in the cats at night. 1938S. Beckett Murphy v. 95 A staple recreation..had been to wait at Walham Green for a nice number eleven [bus] and take it through the evening rush to Liverpool Street and back. 1970Y. Carter Mr. Campion's Falcon xii. 91 A shabby row of houses..[with] Queen Anne porches... Number Seven..had an intricate semi-circular fanlight.
b. number one, one's self, one's own person and interests; esp. in to look after, or take care of, number one. (Cf. one 6 d.)
1704–5T. Pitt in Hedges Diary (Hakl. Soc.) III. 99 The Knight I doubt not, but 'tis very careful of number one, and looks no further. 1794Times 21 Mar. in Ashton Old Times (1885) 306 Long had it [a cat] lived upon the fat of the land, in Charlotte St.,..where it took great care of Number one! 1829Marryat F. Mildmay xix, We always take care of number one. 1830–[see one 6 d]. 1850Thackeray Pendennis lvi, Almost every person,..as it seems to us, is occupied about Number One. 1892Newcastle Even. Chron. 11 Jan. 4/4 They..were going to look after ‘number one’ in the future.
c. number ones, ellipt. form of ‘No. 1 dress’, ‘No. 1 suit’ (also used), a best dress uniform worn esp. in the Navy.
1829Marryat F. Mildmay II. 132 Each was dressed out in our No. 1 suits, in most exact and unquizzable uniform. 1914‘Bartimeus’ Naval Occasions xviii. 157 The ‘Rig of the Day’ was ‘Number Ones’. 1947Landfall I. 287 Hughes unpacked his kit to find his number ones badly crushed, and cursing, he went in search of an iron. 1950A. P. Herbert Independent Member lxi. 359 The queer-looking spectacled P.O., ‘sculling about’ in his No. 1's astern of the Field-Marshal. 1955[see doll v.2]. 1968J. Lock Lady Policeman ix. 78 The PCs in their quaint, high-buttoned ‘number one’ uniforms look as though they have stepped out of a jaded print. 1972Police Rev. 17 Nov. 1489/2 (caption) Probably the last Policemen ever to wear their ‘number ones’, the ceremonial dress of the Force which is probably being phased out at the end of the year.
d. colloq. number one, the finest quality, the best obtainable. As attrib. or adj. phr., first-rate, ‘tip-top’; leading, principal.
1839Spirit of Times 29 June 195/1 He is the sole owner of the estate upon which the [race] track is located, and will, no doubt, do all he can to make it ‘a number one’ concern. 1843Marryat Trav. M. Violet II. xi. 231 After having drained half-a-dozen cups of ‘stiff, true, downright Yankee No. 1’, we all of us took our blankets. 1846Swell's Night Guide 40 This sanctum-sanctorum is..the number one of cribberies. 1848J. T. Fields Let. 15 Aug. in R. W. Griswold's Corresp. (1898) 242, I have some beautiful poems by me by Mrs. Barnes... They are No. 1, full of passionate feeling and eminently worthy of a place. 1855Trans. Mich. Agric. Soc. VI. 495 Wheat first-rate, peas, also, oats number one. 1871E. Eggleston Hoosier Schoolmaster (1872) xv. 125 Seems to me it would be number one to have God help you. 1872― End of World xi. 78 This walk seems the shortest, when I'm in superfine, number-one comp'ny. c1882in R. Pearsall Worm in Bud (1969) ii. 43 Awfully rollicking, fearfully frollicking, Number one Masher of all. 1897G. B. Shaw Let. 16 Apr. in Ellen Terry & Shaw (1931) 186, I have all the British rights of Arms and all but eleven No. 1 towns for You Never Can Tell. 1904― Let. 9 Sept. in Ibid. 414 The tour is on the cheapest scale..and the towns by no means all Number Ones. 1933P. Godfrey Back-Stage xvi. 199 The No. 1 dates, such as Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow, and Edinburgh, get the best companies. Ibid. 200 Actors on the No. 1's are the best paid. 1942E. Paul Narrow St. xxiv. 212 The sluggish public began to scent the No. 1 scandal of the century. 1943Koestler Arrival & Departure iv. 148, I could even point to a number of similarities between your No. 1 and our No. 1. 1944Living off Land iv. 62 (heading) Panic as Enemy No. 1. 1955W. Gaddis Recognitions iii. ii. 752 Look, what did Schmuck's number-one boy want over there, when you stopped and talked to them. 1957A. Grimble Return to Islands iii. 58 He turned out to be a number-one boat-builder. 1968Globe & Mail (Toronto) 3 Feb. 51/3 One small folded letter on blue paper bearing a 12-pence stamp will be the number one feature. 1969C. Burke God is Beautiful, Man (1970) 80 And it don't really make no difference if you're one or two. 'Cause with God, you're always number one. 1971Flying Apr. S7/1 Pilot briefing is the number-one item in the present FSS system. 1974Plain Dealer (Cleveland, Ohio) 26 Oct. 3-D/1 Officials here expect a crowd of only 35,000 for the No. 1 team in the nation.
e. Number ten, also No. 10, in full No. 10 Downing Street, the London residence of the Prime Minister. Hence used allusively to denote the influence or opinions of the Prime Minister. Also transf., as quot. 1972.
1880Leisure Hour 383/2 Doubtless ‘oblivious forgetfulness’ would occur to any one who, having been created a peer of Parliament by a late occupant of No. 10, should happen to be seen by the fallen Minister. 1905[see , No.]. 1934Punch 28 Mar. 345/1 The Muse at No. 10. ‘It is rare to find a Prime Minister who is also a poet.’—Press. 1939Ibid. 13 Sept. 284/2 The mystery deepened when the man did not enter No. 10 at all. 1958L. Durrell Mountolive iv. 86 Even in the rain there was the usual little cluster of tourists and loungers outside the gates of Number Ten. 1961I. Jefferies It wasn't Me! iii. 36 If academic opinion differs from that at No. 10 we go our own way. 1969‘W. Haggard’ Doubtful Disciple i. 1 The summons to Number Ten had knocked him flat. Under-Secretaries weren't called to the Prime Minister's house. 1972Guardian 14 June 12/1 Now that Mr Suto is on the brink of retirement..his wife feels she can lift the curtain on life at Japan's No. 10. 1974Daily Mail 9/3 It was this which..put Edward Heath into Number 10.
f. number one, a children's word or euphemism for ‘urine’; similarly number two for ‘fæces’.
1902Farmer & Henley Slang V. 75/2 Number one,..(nursery). Urination; also a chamber-pot. Ibid., Number two,..(nursery). Evacuation. 1923J. Manchon Le Slang 212 I want to do number one, je veux faire pipi. 1937A. S. Neill That Dreadful School vii. 118 Our juniors have an interest in the Old English word for faeces. They use it a lot—the ones from polite homes do, I mean homes that talk of No. 2 and ‘going to the House of Commons’ (how appropriate a name!). 1938I. Goldberg Wonder of Words vi. 108 The child is early taught to refer to his needs as ‘number one’ and ‘number two’. 1949F. Sargeson I saw in my Dream 15 You felt sick and told mother, and she felt your forehead and asked how long it was since you did number two. 1959I. & P. Opie Lore & Lang. Schoolch. vi. 96 Dirty kangaroo, Sitting on the dustbin Doing his ‘Number Two’. 1963G. Greene Sense of Reality 47 ‘I want to do number one.’ I blurted out... He called to Maria, ‘The boy wants to piss. Fetch him the golden po.’ 1967A. Wilson No Laughing Matter ii. 70 This little ginger [kitten] is going to do a number one if we're not careful. 1971M. McCarthy Birds of America 145 When I had done Number Two, you always washed them out yourself before sending them to the diaper service.
g. number two: colloq. phr. (freq. attrib.), a provincial town (in contexts one not noted for its appreciation of the theatre); also, a person second in importance or rank to a head of a department, etc., a second in command.
1908G. B. Shaw Let. 11 Aug. in Lett. to G. Barker (1956) 134 You might let her begin on a number two tour of it [sc. a play]. 1920― Let. 22 Dec. in B. Shaw & Mrs. Campbell (1952) 215 You yourself have held up the six big cities and kept poor Macdona wandering in the number twos. 1934R. Ferguson Celebrated Sequels 180 My elocution..has been admired in such Number Two towns as Wigan. 1952‘M. Innes’ Private View xiv. 214 This fellow, Cadover, is your husband's Number Two? 1968M. Woodhouse Rock Baby vii. 76 I'll introduce you to your Number Two... You'll need some help. 1970Guardian Weekly 25 Apr. 17 Russia feels the understandable necessity to catch up in the arms race... It just does not pay to be number two. 1973W. Fairchild Swiss Arrangement xiii. 173 ‘Lisa Kestler was in charge of the whole operation—right?’ ‘Right..Gray was her number two.’ 1975S. Johnson Urbane Guerilla ii. 103 Usually we don't bother with the no. 2 man.
h. Naval. number one, a first lieutenant, esp. one who is second in command to the captain of a ship. Freq. as a form of address.
1909J. R. Ware Passing English 184/2 Number one.., strictly naval for first lieutenant. 1916‘Taffrail’ Stand By! 120 ‘I'm sorry for him,’ said No. One, lifting his glass with a grin. 1948Partridge Dict. Forces' Slang 129 Number one. The sergeant in charge of a gun. (Army.) (2) The First Lieutenant. (Ward-room).
i. Forces' slang. number nine, an aperient pill freq. prescribed as a cure-all for minor illnesses or doubtful symptoms (see quot. 1925).
1916Anzac Book 110 And should my health appear to fail And appetite grow fine, My doctor hands me—not a bill, But just a Number 9. 1925Fraser & Gibbons Soldier & Sailor Words 211 Number nine... The popular name for the Service aperient dose or pill. From its listed number, No. 9, in the Field Hospital Case of drugs. Being the Medical Officer's stock remedy in case of doubtful ailments, or suspected malingering, in the war the expression ‘A No. 9’ came to be used in all kinds of applications, more or less in jest. 1926N. Lucas London & its Criminals xv. 181 They have one medicine in prison for all ills—from toothache to broken limbs, this is known to all old-timers as ‘white mixture’ and it corresponds to the ‘number nines’ of the Army. 1930Brophy & Partridge Songs & Slang Brit. Soldier 161 The regimental Medical Officer..invariably gave him a standardized purgative pill, known as Number 9, and marked him down as M.D. i.e. medicine and duty.
6. a. A single (numbered) part or issue of a book or periodical. in numbers, in a series of separate parts published at intervals.
1757Foote Author i. Wks. 1799 I. 132 Master Clench..has a folio a coming out in numbers. 1795Gentl. Mag. 540/1 A good-natured friend, who shewed me the last number of the Critical Review. 1851Mayhew London Lab. I. 290/1 He used to buy up all the old back numbers of the cheap periodicals. 1853Mrs. Gaskell Cranford i, I consider it vulgar, and below the dignity of literature, to publish in numbers. 1884Athenæum Dec. 773 In our number for December 27th we shall give a series of articles on the Continental Literature of the Year.
attrib.1813in N. & Q. 10th Ser. III. (1905) 66 Those subscribers..who choose to be accommodated with the Apocrypha may now be supplied by giving orders to the..Number-men. 1827Mackenzie Hist. Newcastle II. 729 Mr. M. Brown carried on the number business with great spirit. 1864Glasgow Her. 11 Apr., Messrs. J. & J. Forsyth..beg to inform Dealers, Canvassers, and all others connected with the ‘Number Trade’, that they [etc.].
b. A person designated by a certain number.
1859F. A. Griffiths Artil. Man. (1862) 196 The first seven numbers run up. c1860H. Stuart Seaman's Catech. 14 Order any two numbers to draw it out.
c. One of a collection of songs or poems.
1878Stevenson Inland Voy. 119 There was a number in the hawker's collection called Conscrits Français, which may rank among the most dissuasive war-lyrics on record. 1894Westm. Gaz. 21 Feb. 3/1 There are only 28 numbers in the little book, but none of them is quite insignificant, while many contain really memorable lines and stanzas.
d. A part or division of an opera, oratorio, etc.
1881Athenæum 347/2 The best numbers of the work are, in our opinion, the duet for soprano and tenor..and the final chorus. 1891Guardian 23 Sept. 1531 The names of the singers of all the solo numbers. 1897Yorksh. Post 8 Mar. 4/5 A drawing-room recital of some of its numbers was given on Thursday.
e. An item in a programme of musical entertainment. Also, more loosely, any song or tune. Cf. senses 6 c and d above.
1885G. B. Shaw How to become Musical Critic (1960) 80 To tap their feet and wag their heads to the seductive swing of his numbers. 1900E. E. Peake Darlingtons i. 2 After a rattling number by the band, a brief address by the Mayor, and another rattling number by the band, a neatly dressed, handsome man..advanced to the front of the platform. 1913Confessions of Dancing Girl vi. 109 We had worked all the variety halls and cafés..and we had no novel ‘numbers’. 1920Wodehouse Jill the Reckless (1922) xi. 161 He's put over any amount of shows which would have flopped like dogs without him to stage the numbers. 1927T. S. Eliot in Newton's Seneca (Tudor Translations) p. x, But the characters in a play of Seneca behave more like members of a minstrel troupe..rising in turn each to do his ‘number’. 1933P. Godfrey Back-Stage xiv. 173 A ‘number’ is any song or musical item in the programme, so named because every such item is numbered in rotation in the musical director's copy, and is always referred to by its cypher. 1948Penguin Music Mag. Feb. 25 The B.B.C. could start..by putting some kind of check on the manner and matter of their inane songs—‘numbers’ I think they call them. 1958Publ. Amer. Dial. Soc. xxx. 41 Words deeply engrained in the speech of the jazzman... Any tune is a ‘number’. 1962Movie Oct. 36/2 The garnish of musical numbers. 1973J. Wainwright Pride of Pigs 175 It was a fine intro to a fine number. The style was traditional jazz.
f. colloq. A person or thing, esp. (i) an article of apparel.
1894Somerville & ‘Ross’ Real Charlotte I. iii. 22 The shop windows..had progressed..to straw hats, tennis shoes, and coloured Summer Numbers. c1900in M. Johnson Amer. Advertising (1960), Indian panama horse hat. Last year our sales on this number were enormous, showing that this hat is no longer a fad. 1935Ladies' Home Jrnl. Apr. 19/3 Deedee had swathed herself in an afternoon number and was happily emptying the last of my..perfume down her front. 1953M. Steen Anna Fitzalan viii. 211 Petula Wimbleby's solution turned out to be an exquisite but throat-high ‘little number’ redeemed by lumps of jade. 1959P. Bull I know Face ix. 149 The camel-hair number suffered most, as the majority of my friends wished to wear it. 1969Daily Tel. 17 Jan. 17 Two of Mattli's best numbers were in impeccable white: a coat..and a wool suit.
(ii) A person, frequently with qualifying word; more usually, a woman. Cf. article n. 14 b.
1919Dialect Notes V. 70 Hot one, hot number, used as a term of disgust. ‘You're a hot one I must say.’ New Mexico. 1924H. C. Witwer in Cosmopolitan Apr. 70/1 Oh, she's beautiful enough!.. She's a snappy number with the skin you love to touch. 1936L. C. Douglas White Banners xvi. 343 She's an odd number... I rather fancy she wears a hair shirt herself. 1938R. C. Sherwood Idiot's Delight (ed. 2) 12 Bebe is a hard, harsh little number who shimmies. 1944Auden For Time Being (1945) 10 And every gorgeous number may Be laid by anyone. 1950R. Chandler Trouble is my Business i. 8 A girl. A red-headed number with bedroom eyes. 1955W. Gaddis Recognitions ii. vii. 627 Have you seen a little blond number named Adeline? 1960C. Watson Bump in Night xii. 122 The fellow was rather a dull number when you get down to a straight life story. 1968J. Sangster Touchfeather ii. 17, I make do with three [men]..my home number is just a nice guy who sells motor cars.
(iii) An occupation, job, assignment.
1948Partridge Dict. Forces' Slang 129 Number, quiet, an easy job at sea or ashore. 1959N.Z. Listener 24 July 5/1 A navigator's yeoman who had the cushy number of rubbing out old minefields and putting in new ones. 1968Listener 19 Sept. 370/2 Transferred to what was described as a ‘cushy number’ with the Commandos. 1975J. Wainwright Square Dance 187 He silently congratulated himself. It was a soft number, sitting here.
g. = denier3 4. Cf. count n.1 2 b.
1923G. G. Denny Fabrics i. 31 Yarn count—a number given to yarn indicating its fineness, based upon number of yards per pound, more correctly called ‘yarn number’. 1927M. H. Avram Rayon Industry 516 There are many systems by which the ‘number’, ‘size’, or ‘count’ of yarns is expressed. Ibid., The number..is..the weight of a standard unit skein or hank. 1928V. Hottenroth Artificial Silk ix. 160 Before the silk is ready for sale or for treatment in the dye works, it must be sorted according to quality and number (that is, thickness of thread). 1931D. L. Pellatt Viscose Rayon Production xi. 97 For 150-denier yarn..the number has risen from 18 to 21, 24, 27.
II.
7. a. The full tale or count of a collection, company, or class of persons. Also pl.
a1300Cursor M. 9416 Þat þis oxspring war o þat tale Þat moght fulfill þe numbre hale..o þam þat fell. 1390Gower Conf. III. 276 The nombre of Angles which was lore..He thoghte to restore. 1483Anc. Cal. Rec. Dubl. (1889) 364 Suche persones as they thynketh lyable to full⁓fill the nombre of the xlviii. demi jures. c1520M. Nisbet N.T., Acts Prol., The novmer of the apostilis war fulfillit. 1597Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, iii. ii. 201 There is two more called then your number: You must haue but foure heere sir. 1667Milton P.L. iii. 332 Hell, her numbers full, Thence⁓forth shall be for ever shut. 1859Tennyson Guinevere 494 How sad it were for Arthur..To..miss the wonted number of my knights.
b. In contexts denoting inclusion in the particular company or collection of persons (or things) specified. Usu. of, in, or to the number of (etc.).
a1300Cursor M. 23875 He has us in his numbur tald, Als his scepe of his aun fald. c1400Apol. Loll. 56 If I were..of þe noumbre of bischoppis, I were of þe noumbre of men to be dampnid. 1470–85Malory Arthur Pref. 1 Admytted..in to the nombre of the ix beste & worthy of whome was fyrst the noble Arthur. 1533Bellenden Livy i. i. (S.T.S.) I. 15 He was haldin be þe pepil for Iupiter Indiges, and ekit to þe nowmer of goddis. 1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 197 So that men also of theyr religion might be admitted to be of that nombre. 1611Bible 2 Cor. x. 12 For we dare not make our selues of the number. 1667Milton P.L. v. 840 But more illustrious made, since he the Head One of our number thus reduc't becomes. 1754Chatham Lett. to Nephew iv. 25 Is gratitude in the number of a man's virtues? 1821Shelley Hellas 17 Whose lover was of the number Who now keep That calm sleep Whence none may wake. 1852Gladstone Glean. (1879) IV. 100 They would..rank as enemies of order, and be added to the number of those who are the unfortunate subjects of the Return.
†c. (As in prec.) The class or category of something. Obs.
1577Googe Heresbach's Husb. i. (1586) 35 Columella countes it rather in the number of Fodder for cattell, then of Pulse for man. 1638R. Baker tr. Balzac's Lett. (vol. III.) 103, I count not Amazons in the Number of women, but of Monsters and prodigees. 1690Temple Ess., Learning Wks. 1720 I. 298 There are three, which I do not conceive well, how they can be brought into the Number of Sciences; which are, Chymistry, Philology, and Divinity. 1757A. Cooper Distiller iii. lxiv. (1760) 261 Universally allowed to be a mineral Production of the Number of Bitumens.
d. The body or aggregate of persons specified.
1529More Dyaloge iii. Wks. 205/2 Y⊇ church that is to witte the nombre & congregacion of good and right beleuyng folke. a1562G. Cavendish Wolsey (Ellis) 74 The Kyng..havyng abouyt his person,..beside the wonderfull nomber of nobyll men and gentilmen, iii great gards. 1600Shakes. A.Y.L. v. iv. 178 Euery of this happie number That haue endur'd shrew'd daies, and nights with vs.
†e. Those forming a specified class; also, the multitude, the common herd. Obs. rare.
1578Banister Hist. Man vii. 92 Casula;..the barbarous number, by the addition of one letter pronounce it Capsula. 1607Shakes. Cor. iii. i. 72 By mingling them with vs, the honor'd Number. 1738Pope Epil. Sat. ii. 111 The Number may be hang'd, but not be crown'd.
8. a. A (large, small, etc.) collection or company of persons or things.
c1350Will. Palerne 2300 A brem numbre of bestes. c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) xiii. 55 A grete noumer of þe childer of Israel ware slayne. c1400Destr. Troy 1173 A noumbur hoge Of Grekes were gedret. c1475Partenay 37 Ther was A Erle..Which of children had A huge noumbre gret. 1533More Debell. Salem Wks. 1036/2 There is no smal nomber of suche erronious englishe bokes prynted. 1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 192 b, An infinite nombre of grassehoppers came flieng into Germany. 1638Junius Paint. Ancients 28 Among such a number of rich and artificiall monuments. 1678J. Phillips tr. Tavernier's Trav. ii. ii. xxiv. 202 The Java Lords,..drawing their poyson'd Daggers, cry'd a Mocca upon the English, killing a great number of them. 1719De Foe Crusoe i. (Globe) 53 There arose an innumerable Number of Fowls of many Sorts. 1743J. Morris Serm. vii. 191 There is a great number of other passages of scripture, in which they must be understood of children. 1897F. Hall in Nation LXIV. 396/2 A good number of them were, doubtless, brought across the ocean by British immigrants.
b. Without dependent genitive.
c1400Destr. Troy 8212 Agamynon the grete..With a noyus nowmbur, nait men of strenght. 1470–85Malory Arthur xx. xx. 834 The noble knyghtes came oute of the Cyte by a grete nombre. 1535Coverdale Gen. xxxiv. 30, I am but a small nombre: Yf they gather them selues now together against me, they shal slaye me. 1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 130 Therfore were bookes brought thether in a wonderfull numbre. 1589Cooper Admon. 120 Which dealing..cannot be without great offence of an infinite nomber. 1833Cruse tr. Eusebius iv. iii. 130 This work is also preserved by a great number. 1895Pall Mall Mag. Nov. 459 A considerable number are employed in..workshops.
9. a. A certain (usu. a large or considerable) company, collection, or aggregate of persons or things, not precisely reckoned or counted.
c1380Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. II. 309 In þe Chirche above in heven is a noumbre of greete seintis. c1400Destr. Troy 1147 Nestor with a nombur of noble men all. 1535Coverdale Acts v. 36 There cleued vnto him a nombre of men, aboute a foure hundreth. 1580Fulke Retentive, Disc. Dang. Rock 164 A number more of such principall heades of Christian learning. 1626Bacon Sylva §567 Water-Lilly..hath a Root in the Ground; And so have a Number of other Herbs that grow in Ponds. 1795Southey Lett. fr. Spain (1799) 8 A number of little forts are erected about the adjoining coast. 1807G. Chalmers Caledonia I. ii. vi. 282 The dates of both agree..in a number of their notices. 1860S. Wilberforce Sp. Missions (1874) 338 He..kept himself by keeping a number of bees.
b. Without dependent genitive. Freq. = many persons (cf. 10 b).
1566Cott. Libr. Cal. B 10 fol. 372 In this mean time there rose a nombre in the Court. 1594Hooker Eccl. Pol. i. i. §2 Much..may seem to a number perhaps tedious, perhaps obscure. Ibid. x §2 After men began to grow to a number, the first thing we read they gave themselves unto was the tilling of the earth. 1833–6J. H. Newman Hist. Sk. (1873) II. iv. ii. 382 The testimony of a number is more cogent than the testimony of two or three.
†c. Const. without of. Obs. rare.
1583Babington Commandm. 245 With a number such mockes and diuelish tauntes. Ibid. 252 Vnto which and a number such other perswasions in the word the prophane writers..haue agreed. 1623Breton Souls Love xxiii, A number plagues the Lord did further threaten.
10. a. pl. A (great, infinite, etc.) multitude or aggregate of persons or things.
c1400Destr. Troy 11139 What fortherit the fight of þo fell maidyns, Syn the grekes on hom gedrit in so gret nowmbers? c1470Henry Wallace vii. 1104 He chargyt thaim, with nowmeris mony ane Rycht weill beseyn, in Scotland for to ryd. 1573L. Lloyd Marrow of Hist. (1653) 21 Xerxes,..whose infinite numbers of Navies covered the Ocean seas. 1600Pory tr. Leo's Africa vi. 271 Here are infinite numbers of scorpions, but no flies at all. 1813Wellington in Gurw. Desp. (1838) XI. 21 The French have lost immense numbers of men. 1847–9Todd's Cycl. Anat. IV. 2/2 The numbers in which these creatures abound baffles all expression.
b. Many (persons, etc.).
1597Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. lxviii. §6 Whereas none of them which were in the one could perish, numbers in the other are cast away. 1667Milton P.L. xi. 480 A Lazar⁓house it seemd, wherein were laid Numbers of all diseas'd. 1709Swift Adv. Relig. Wks. 1751 IV. 124 They might..be raised to as high a Perfection as Numbers are capable of receiving. 1760–2Goldsm. Cit. W. lxxv, There are numbers in this city who live by writing new books. 1802M. Edgeworth Moral T. (1816) I. viii. 57 Able to speak..before numbers. 1861F. Metcalfe Oxonian in Iceland (1867) 182 Numbers of fish kept rising at my grilse flies. 1866S. Wilberforce Sp. Missions (1874) 261 It was a time when sermons were read by numbers, and admired by multitudes.
c. In contexts denoting superiority or power derived from numerical preponderance.
1638Sir T. Herbert Trav. (ed. 2) 289, 1000 Persians were slaine and 20000 Turks; but by their numbers the Persians were forced to leave the field. 1761Churchill Night 359 Can numbers then change Nature's stated laws? Can numbers make the worse the better cause? 1823J. Marshall Const. Opin. (1839) 276 European policy, numbers and skill prevailed. 1861F. Metcalfe Oxonian in Iceland (1867) 176 Coming to close quarters, they overpowered the foreigners by force of numbers. 1888Bryce Amer. Commw. III. xcv. 325 This is in fact the essence of..popular government, and the justification for vesting powers in numbers.
III. 11. a. That aspect of things which is involved in considering them as separate units of which one or more may be taken or distinguished.
c1305St. Edmund 225 in E.E.P. (1862) 77 Arsmetrike is a lore þat of figours al is..& in [read of] numbre iwis. 1388Wyclif Pref. Ep. Jerome vii, The mysteries of al the hool crafte of noumbre. c1400tr. Secreta Secret., Gov. Lordsh. 60 He hauys ordeyned by his wyt alle þinges yn euyn weight and certeyn nombre and ordre. c1440Alph. Tales 482 A chanon at was so symple & so vnconnyng þat he cuthe nott tell no maner of nowmer, nor tell whilk was od whilk was evyn. 1570Billingsley Euclid vii. 183 Nomber compaseth all thinges, and is..the being and very essence of all thinges. 1623Massinger Dk. Milan i. iii, This present journey, From whence it is all number to a cipher, I ne'er return with honour. 1667Milton P.L. viii. 38 Speed, to describe whose swiftness Number failes. 1690Locke Hum. Und. ii. xvi. (1695) 107 Our Idea of Infinity..seems to be nothing, but the infinity of Number. 1762Kames Elem. Crit. (1774) II. 535 A child..perceives a difference between many and few; and that difference it is taught to call number. 1867Duke of Argyll Reign of Law ii. 75 These laws of number and proportion pervade all Nature. 1884tr. Lotze's Logic 189 That other saying.., that God has ordered everything by measure and number.
Comb.1610Heywood Gold. Age ii. i, Shall I sweet Lady, adde vnto your grace, And but for number-sake supply that place?
fig.1773Foote Bankrupt ii. Wks. 1799 II. 115, I..call'd him a citizen in the London Gazette,..Pass'd a few necessary notes to get him number and value, white-wash'd him, and sent him home.
†b. Geometrical figure. Obs. rare.
1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xix. cxxvi. (1495) 926 The nombre lineall begynnyth fro one and is wryte arowe and lyne vnto endlesse. Ibid., The nombre superficiall is wryten not oonly in lengthe but also in brede as thre cornerde nombre and four cornerde and fyue cornerde and rounde.
†c. Proportion or comparison. Obs. rare— 1.
1387–8T. Usk Test. Love i. viii. (Skeat) l. 119 It is a fayr lykenesse, a pees or oon grayn of whete, to a thousand shippes ful of corne charged! What nombre is betwene the oon and th' other?
d. Phrenol. The faculty of numbering or calculating.
1835Brit. Cycl., Arts & Sci. II. 218/1 The organ of calculation or number (as it is sometimes called) is marked 28. 1865Chambers's Encycl. VII. 516/2 Number.—The organ of this faculty is placed at the outer extremity of the eyebrows. 1885Encycl. Brit. XVIII. 845/2 Number, on the external angular process of the frontal bone.
12. In phrases denoting that persons, things, etc., have not been, or cannot be, counted.
1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 8161 Folc of arabie, So muche þat þer nas non noumbre of hor compainye. 1393Langl. P. Pl. C. xxiii. 269 Ȝe wexeþ oute of numbre. c1400Apol. Loll. 5 He lediþ wiþ him self going bifore to helle peple wiþoutun nowmbre. a1400–50Alexander 1554 With prestis & with prelatis a pake out of nombre. 1483Caxton Gold. Leg. 366 b/1 The holy poure ladyes whiche [thou] hast drawen to penaunce without nombre. 1534Whitinton Tullyes Offices i. (1540) 28 Marathon, Salamyne, Plate,..and other out of nombre. 1667Milton P.L. iii. 346 A shout Loud as from numbers without number. 1751Johnson Rambler No. 36 ⁋5 The sense of this universal pleasure has invited numbers without number to try their skill in pastoral performances. 1810Bentham Packing (1821) 92 Persons out of number are amusing themselves with rendering what, I hope, appears to themselves, at least, good service to the country. 1892Law Times XCII. 147/1 Times without number the courts in bankruptcy have been called upon to decide the question.
13. in number:
a. In sum total; altogether. (Also † by number.)
c1350Will. Palerne 2289 Kene men of armes, twenty hundered & tvo trewli in numbre. 1382Wyclif 2 Sam. ii. 15 Thanne rysen and wenten twelue bi noumbre of Beniamyn. c1400Rom. Rose 5259 For tweyn in nombre is bet than three In every counsel and secree. 1423Jas. I Kingis Q. xix, Goddis and sistris all, In nowmer ix., as bokis specifye. 1538Starkey England ii. i. 150 We schold not only haue the pepul incresyd in nombur, but also [etc.]. 1573Tusser Husb. (1878) 107 These toppingly gests be in number but ten. 1615Sandys Trav. 50 In number about thirtie or fortie thousand. 1667Milton P.L. vi. 49 Equal in number to that Godless crew. 1789Cowper Catharina 26 Though the pleasures of London exceed In number the days of the year. 1886Law Times LXXXII. 94/1 A mortgage of the stock of sheep, about 6500 in number, on an Australian run.
†b. In numerical place or order. Obs.
c1375Sc. Leg. Saints xii. (Matthias) 3 Þe apostil sancte mathy, Þat In nowmyr þe laste ves, In stad of þe tratour Iudas. 1561Winȝet Cert. Tractates Wks. (S.T.S.) I. 2 Thre Questionis,..quhilkis ar in noumbre the xxxiii. xxxiiii. and xxxv. of The Four Score Thre Questionis.
†c. Together or along with others. Obs.—1
c1470Henry Wallace ix. 874 Off this dispyt amendys I think to haiff, Or de thar for in nowmyr with the laiff.
†14.
a. A (great) collection, etc. = sense 8. Also without adj. = sense 9. Obs.
a1352Minot Poems (ed. Hall) iii. 82 With grete noumber of smale botes. a1400–50Alexander 215 Þe mode kynge of Messedone with mekill nounbre..farne out of toune. 1456Sir G. Haye Law Arms (S.T.S.) 53 He sawdit grete nowmer of men of armys. a1533Ld. Berners Gold. Bk. M. Aurel. (1546) B ij, There is greatte nombre of parcialities. 1601Shakes. Twel. N. iii. iii. 29 Belike you slew great number of his people. 1663Gerbier Counsel f 1, Clovis..did coate number of Flour-de-lis. Ibid. g 2 b, Nor is this present Age void of number of Authors, who have written more on Architecture.
b. = sense 10. rare.
c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) xviii. 83 In bathe þir citez dwellez Cristen men..in grete noumer. 1485Surtees Misc. (1888) 43 Wt othre in grete nombre assembled ther. 1819Shelley Mask of Anarchy xxxviii, Rise like Lions after slumber, In unvanquishable number.
c. = sense 10 c. rare.
1612Bacon Ess., Greatn. Kingd. (Arb.) 472 Walled Towns,..Masse of treasure, Number in Armies.., are all but a Sheep in a Lions skin, except the..disposition of the people be militarie. 1625Ibid. 473 Many are the Examples, of the great oddes between Number and Courage. 1667Milton P.L. v. 899 Nor number, nor example with him wrought To swerve from truth.
IV.
†15. Quantity, amount. Obs. rare.
13..E.E. Allit. P. B. 1283 Þe golde of þe gazafylace to swyþe gret noumbre. c1380Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 277 So þes worldly clerkis and religiouse taken huge noumbre of temperal goodis. 1477Caxton Jason 76 b, And [they] promised them grete nombre of money if they might come and obteyn their entent. 1534Whitinton Tullyes Offices iii. (1540) 135 An honest man hath..brought a great nombre of wheate in the derth tyme. a1670Spalding Troub. Chas. I (1850) I. 347 The cordineris of both Abirdeins wes commandit..to give wp..the number of thair ledder, and to mak wp..thair portion of 20,000 pair of schois. 1720Humourist 185, I have seen..one Man plowing with one Horse; which..saves a Number of Money.
16. Gram. The property in words of denoting that one, two, or more persons or things are spoken of; the special form of a word by which this is expressed.
1377Langl. P. Pl. B. x. 237 Three propre persones ac nouȝt in plurel noumbre, For al is but on god. 1393Ibid. C. iv. 349 In kynde and in case and in cours of noumbre. 1523Fitzherb. Surv. 9 b, Where he sayth de molendinis, y⊇ whiche is in the plurell nombre. 1530Palsgr. Introd. 26 Of the gendre and nombre of the substantyve. 1591Percivall Sp. Dict. B iij, There are two numbers, the singular speaking of one, the plurall of moe. 1636B. Jonson Eng. Gram. vii, Of number that word is termed to be, which signifieth a number singular, or plural. 1738Gentl. Mag. VIII. 182/2 The Plural Number of ὕδωρ is often made use of where a large Quantity of Water is designed to be expressed. 1751Chatham Lett. to his Nephew i. 3, I will desire you..to write smoaks in the plural number, in the last line but one. 1824L. Murray Gram. (ed. 5) I. 80 The singular number expresses but one object. 1872Morris Eng. Accidence 93 The oldest English had the dual number only in the personal pronouns, which we no longer preserve.
17. Conformity, in verse or music, to a certain regular beat or measure; rhythm.
1477Norton Ord. Alch. v. in Ashm. (1652) 81 Without true Number no Man trulie maie sing. 1553T. Wilson Rhet. (1580) 163 He maie appere to keepe an uniformitie, and (as I might saie) a nomber in the vttering of his sentence. 1641Hinde J. Bruen iii. 11 Mixt dancing of men and women, with light and lascivious gestures and actions, framed in number and measure to please a wanton eye. 1667Milton P.L. iv. 687 With Heav'nly touch of instrumental sounds In full harmonic number joind.
18. pl.
a. Musical periods or groups of notes.
1579E. K. Gloss. Spenser's Sheph. Cal. Oct. 27 Plato and Pythagoras, held for opinion, that the mynd was made of a certaine harmonie and musicall nombers. 1598Drayton Heroic. Ep. xv. 93 In Musickes Numbers my Voyce rose and fell. 1671Milton P.R. iv. 255 The secret power Of harmony in tones and numbers hit By voice or hand. c1690Prior To C'tess of Exeter Playing on Lute, That with Your Numbers You our Zeal might raise. 1702Rowe Tamerl. i. i, When some skilful Artist strikes the Strings The magick Numbers rouze our sleeping Passions. 1762Sir W. Jones Arcadia Poems (1777) 117 Now on the flute with equal grace he play'd, And his soft numbers died along the shade. 1810Scott Lady of L. i. Introd., Harp of the North! that..down the fitful breeze thy numbers flung. a1839Praed Poems (1864) II. 354 Pour again those holy numbers, Which thou warblest there alone.
b. Metrical periods or feet; hence, lines, verses.
1588Shakes. L.L.L. iv. iii. 57, I feare these stubborn lines lack power to moue... These numbers will I teare, and write in prose. 1629Davenant Albovine Ded., My Numbers I do not shew unto the publick Eye, with an ambition to be quickly known. 1667Milton P.L. iii. 38 Then feed on thoughts, that voluntarie move Harmonious numbers. 1709Pope Ess. Crit. 337 But most by Numbers judge a Poet's song; And smooth or rough, with them is right or wrong. 1773Mrs. Chapone Improv. Mind (1774) II. 167 Numbers and rhymes..being so easily learn'd by heart. 1824L. Murray Eng. Gram. (ed. 5) I. 479 Our translators of the Bible, have often been happy in suiting their numbers to the subject. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. vii. II. 202 Men were in no humour to be charmed by the transparent style and melodious numbers of the apostate.
†c. A subdivision of a line. Obs. rare—1.
1797Monthly Mag. III. 258 note, Whatever exceeded two times (a short syllable being estimated as half a time) was termed not a foot but a number.
19. attrib. and Comb., as (sense 1) number-word, number-work; (sense 3) number continuum, number series, number system; (sense 6 a) number book, number-carrier, number man; (sense 6 d) number opera; number-average Chem., an average of some parameter of the molecules of a mixture calculated as an arithmetic mean with each individual molecule contributing equally, regardless of size; number board, a board on which numbers are displayed; number-cloth, the cloth bearing a horse's number in a race; number-cruncher colloq., a machine (or occas. a person) with the capacity for performing arithmetical operations of great complexity or length; so number-crunching; number-form, the shapes into which series of numbers are formed in the mental imagery of some people; number line, a graduated line used to illustrate simple numerical concepts and operations; number-plate, a plate bearing a number, esp. that on a registered vehicle; number six, (a) U.S. colloq., a household medicinal remedy, so called from its place on the pharmaceutical list of its inventor, Samuel Thomson; (b) a curl having the shape of the figure six which is dressed on to the forehead; cf. figure-six adj. (figure n. 26); number six nose, a large fleshy nose, supposed to be similar in shape to the figure six; number theory, the branch of mathematics dealing with the properties and relationships of numbers, esp. the positive integers (cf. theory1 4 c); so number-theoretic, -theoretical adjs.; number-theoretically adv.; number theorist.
1935Kraemer & Lansing in Jrnl. Physical Chem. XXXIX. 165 For heterogeneous materials, different methods for determining molecular weights give different ‘average’ values. Thus, it may be shown that freezing point, osmotic pressure, and end-group methods, when applied properly to an ideal mixture, result in an average value defined by the expression Mn = 1/σ (fi/Mi) where fi is the fractional weight of the constituent of molecular weight Mi in the mixture, and the summation is to be applied to all constituents present. This average may be designated as a ‘*number-average molecular weight’. 1955Jrnl. Polymer Sci. XVII. 263 Number average degrees of polymerization are used to calculate the rates of initiation and transfer in vinyl polymerizations, and the extent of reaction in polycondensations. 1974Allen & Patrick Kinetics & Mechanisms Polymerization Reactions vii. 419 Until recent years determination of number-average molecular weights was a most imprecise measurement.
1938G. H. Sewell Amateur Film-Making v. 54 That [sc. numbering each shot] is done by exposing before each shot a *Number Board. 1961K. Reisz Technique Film Editing (ed. 9) 281 Number board, board momentarily held before the camera and photographed at the beginning of a take, recording the title of the film, number of the take and scene, in order to facilitate identification for the editor. 1969D. Francis Enquiry i. i. 14 The Oxford Stewards had been elected for social reasons only..one of them couldn't read a number board at five paces.
1960G. A. Glaister Gloss. Bk. 278 *Number books, books published serially... Each part consisted of two or more sheets stitched together within blue-paper covers. 1963English Studies XLIV. 149 But the kind of serialisation..(often called ‘number books’ or ‘subscription books’) was really the issue and sale of a book in separate fascicules..so that the purchaser could..collect the entire work and have it..bound if he so wished.
1919M. Beer Hist. Brit. Socialism I. ii. ii. 108 He was successively a *number-carrier, street bookseller, and editor of a democratic periodical.
1924E. Wallace Educated Evans vi. 131 Catskin was the one horse..that Educated Evans would have recognized without colours and *number-cloth. 1975D. Francis High Stakes i. 5 People..carrying out saddles and number cloths for the next steeplechase.
1903*Number-continuum [see continuum].
1966New Scientist 29 Sept. 729/1 The Flowers report recommended the setting up of some ‘regional centres’ each with a large ‘*number-cruncher’ to take the bulk-computing load off more local machines. 1971Ibid. 3 June 572/3 Tools ranging from the slide rule to the number-cruncher. 1971A. Sampson New Anat. Britain v. xxvi. 497 Kenneth Keith, a brusque number-cruncher who had come into banking from accountancy.
1971Sci. Amer. Aug. 100 (Advt.), Here's a calculator that speaks your language. You can customize its keyboard, memory size, display, programs and peripherals to suit your *number-crunching tasks.
1883F. Galton Inquiries into Human Faculty 124 The character of the forms under which historical dates are visualised contrast strongly with the ordinary *Number-Forms. 1903G. M. Stratton Experimental Psychol. xiii. 253 A peculiarity of this same number-form..is that with the higher numbers the person changes his point of view. 1936Brit. Jrnl. Educ. Psychol. VI. 60 The main object of the investigation..was to find if the presence of number forms is correlated to any significant degree with arithmetical ability. 1963Listener 28 Mar. 547/1 Some people, whenever they think about numbers, picture them in a spatial arrangement... The experiences are called number forms.
1964E. J. Swenson Teaching Arithm. to Children v. 99/1 When *number lines are introduced to children, they should come in as a representation of a problem situation. 1968Murphy & Kempf New Math. made Simple ii. 36 Since addition and subtraction are inverse operations, we expect subtraction to be associated with moving to the left on a number line.
1866J. Blackwood Let. 21 Dec. in Geo. Eliot's Lett. (1956) IV. 321 The ‘*Number Men’, i.e. men who sell the weekly and monthly publications in large numbers.
1947A. Einstein Music in Romantic Era x. 117 Even a musician so retrospective as Louis Spohr could not help abandoning the *number-opera towards the end of his career. 1958Listener 24 July 141/3 ‘Die Zaubergeige’, for example, is a ‘number opera’ whose folkish tunes stem from popular Bavarian art.
1869Good Words 1 Mar. 170/2 The white porcelain *number-plates upon the doors. 1901Motor-Car World Apr. 74/1 We greatly fear that the number-plate is coming. 1911Chambers's Jrnl. Dec. 831/1 White light to illumine the number-plate. 1973P. Evans Bodyguard Man viii. 67 He..scooped up a handful of dirt from the roadside and rubbed it on to the rear number-plate until it became nearly illegible. 1975Drive New Year 98/1 Numberplate collecting has always been a popular hobby in the USA.
1890W. James Princ. Psychol. II. xxviii. 653 Little by little in our minds the *number-series is formed.
1822S. Thomson Narr. Life 63, I began with him by giving medicine to correct and strengthen the system; bathed the wound with my rhumatic drops, or *No. 6. 1842C. M. Kirkland Forest Life I. 71 We stick to thoroughwort,—balmony,—soot tea,—‘number six’,—and the like. 1909Bull. of Lloyd Library of Botany, Pharmacy & Materia Medica 15 Thomson's Compound Tincture of Myrrh and Capsicum became celebrated as ‘Number 6’. 1923J. Manchon Le Slang 271 Number sixes,..des accroche-cœur. 1966J. S. Cox Illustr. Dict. Hairdressing & Wigmaking 104/1 Number sixes, curls dressed onto the forehead.
1923G. B. Shaw Matter with Ireland (1962) 260 Whereas my Irish nationality was formerly a valuable asset to me in England, I am now expected to apologize for it by men with wooly heads or *number six noses. 1932― Adventures of Black Girl 18 A dark man with wavy black hair, and a number six nose.
1924R. M. Ogden tr. Koffka's Growth of Mind v. 332 Max Wertheimer has investigated the kind of ideas employed by men who do not possess our developed *number-system, in tasks where we would use numbers.
1914Q. Jrnl. Pure & Applied Math. XLV. 373 We begin by listing the analogues of the algebraic invariants and then supplement these with the necessary invariants peculiar to the *number-theoretic case. 1966J. H. Cadwell Topics Recr. Math. xii. 133 The well-known ratio 22/7 shows that rational approximations have their uses. They are of considerable importance from a number-theoretic standpoint.
1968A. M. Tropper tr. H. Meschkowski's Introd. Mod. Math. viii. 178 There are still many unsolved *number theoretical problems.
1950Math. Tables & Other Aids to Computation IV. 110 Something *number-theoretically significant may be occurring.
1929Bull. Amer. Math. Soc. XXXV. 779 There is no *number-theorist who has not heard of ‘Farey's series’. 1971Sci. Amer. June 56/2 The pattern of occurrence of Mersenne numbers, Mersenne primes and perfect numbers continues to mystify number theorists.
[1798A. M. Le Gendre (title) Essai sur la théorie des nombres. 1811P. Barlow (title) An elementary investigation of the theory of numbers.] 1912Bull. Amer. Math. Soc. XVIII. 335 The theory of determinants..in the nineteenth century came to permeate all branches of *number theory, algebra, [etc.]. 1939Uspensky & Heaslet Elem. Number Theory p. v, Instruction in elementary number theory is given in an ever-increasing number of American universities and colleges. 1948O. Ore Number Theory & its Hist. v. 76 The study of these laws in the distribution of the primes falls in the field of analytic number theory. This particular domain of number theory..is considered to be technically one of the most difficult fields of mathematics. 1964M. McLuhan Understanding Media (1967) xxxiii. 370 Arithmetic in grade three or nine, when taught in terms of number theory, symbolic logic, and cultural history, ceases to be mere practice in problems.
1924R. M. Ogden tr. Koffka's Growth of Mind v. 334 Many peoples use other *number-words in counting than the ones they use in naming sums.
1911S. S. Colvin Learning Process iii. 51 Much of it might function equally well for the reading habit, or the *number-work habit. 1962Listener 15 Mar. 469/2 Earlier attempts to teach ‘number work’ are premature and cannot lead beyond the learning of meaningless rules.
▪ II. number, v.|ˈnʌmbə(r)|
Forms: α. 3 noumbri (4 -bir, 5–6 -bre), 4–5 nowmbre (5 -ber, byr, -bur), 4–6 nombre (5 -brye, 6 -ber), 6–8 numbre (6 Sc. -bir), 6– number. β. 4 nomer, 5 (6 Sc.) nowmer (5 -on), 5 Sc. noumer, 6 Sc. novmer, nummer.
[ad. OF. nombrer:—L. numerāre (cf. numerate), f. numerus number.]
1. trans. To count, to ascertain the number of (individual things or persons).
α1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 1399 Aboute ierusalem þis noumbringe he bigan As in þe middel of þe world to noumbri eche man. a1340Hampole Psalter xxi. 17 Þai noumbird..all my banes. 1390Gower Conf. I. 218 It mihte noght be nombred, The folk which after was encombred Thurgh him. 1426Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 19338 Thousandis mo than I kan nowmbre. 1470–85Malory Arthur xiii. xv. 633 Syr Galahad..sawe soo moche peple in the stretes that he myghte not nombre them. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 254 His ioyntes were dissolued and losed, so that his bones myght be nombred. 1651Hobbes Leviath. iii. xlii. 290 The Principall Person of the Assembly, whose office was to number the Votes. 1671Milton P.R. iii. 410 When thou stood'st up his Tempter to the pride Of numbring Israel. 1709Steele & Addison Tatler No. 81 ⁋2 Prodigious Multitudes of People, which no Man could number. 1820Shelley Prometh. Unb. iv. 420 Like a flock of sheep They pass before his eye, are numbered, and roll on! a1862Buckle Misc. Wks. (1872) I. 527 Mussulmans consider every attempt to number the people as a mark of great impiety.
absol.c1430Freemasonry (ed. Halliw. 1840) 571 Astronomy nombreth, my dere brother, Arsmetyk scheweth won thyng that ys another.
βc1375Sc. Leg. Saints xliii. (Cecilia) 404 Þai ma nocht nomeryt be, Þat resawit þis halynes. c1440Promp. Parv. 360/1 Nowmeron, numero. c1440Alph. Tales 293, I am þe aungell off God sent for to nowmer þi fute-steppis.
b. To ascertain the amount or quantity of (something). rare.
c1420Lydg. Commend. Our Lady 100 Whan that Gabriel With joy thee grette that may not be nombred. 1535Coverdale Gen. xli. 49 He left of nombrynge of it [corn], for it coude not be nombred. 1606Shakes. Ant. & Cl. iii. ii. 17 Scribes, Bards, Poets, cannot Thinke, speake, cast, write, sing, number: hoo, His loue to Anthony.
†c. To compute, calculate, reckon, measure.
c1394P. Pl. Crede 178 Merkes of marchauntes y-medled bytwene, Mo þan twenty and two twyes y-noumbred. 1530Palsgr. 644/2, I nombre, as an astronomer doth his thing by aulgorisme, je calcule. Ibid., Have you nombred the distaunce bytwene the sonne and the moone? 1579Digges Stratiot. 1 To number anye summe nothing else it is, but to declare the value of everie Figure placed. 1669Sturmy Mariner's Mag. iv. viii. 218 The half of the deg. and min. thus numbred together, will be the Elevation of the Pole. 1794T. Taylor Pausanias's Descr. Greece III. 7, I was desirous of accurately numbering the interval of time from one Daedal festival to another.
2. To enumerate, to reckon up. Also absol.
a1400Morte Arth. 2658 They are nowmerde fulle neghe, and namede in rollez, Sexty thowsande and tene. 1435Misyn Fire of Love 97, I hope no þinge emonge all oþer þat may be nowmbyrde of clarkis þat may vs socur so mikyll..als feruent lufe of þe godhede. 1470–85Malory Arthur xviii. xviii. 757 Thenne syr Bors de ganys came..and he was nombred that he smote doune twenty knyghtes. 1590Marlowe 2nd Pt. Tamburl. iii. v, So from Arabia Desert..Came forty thousand warlike foot and horse, Since last we number'd to your majesty. 1601R. Johnson Kingd. & Commw. (1603) 26 The quantities of ladders, bridges, shot, powder, and other furnitures following so royall an armie, what pen can number? 1686tr. Chardin's Trav. Persia 252 Relicks..among which they number up the Veronique. 1871R. H. Hutton Ess. (1877) I. 4 If..you numbered up the acts of trust.
†b. In pass. To be of a certain number; to amount to, or be equal to, in number. Obs.
14..Tundale's Vis. 2220 He mad colagys and chyrchys mony That nomburd wer to foure and fourty. c1470Gol. & Gaw. 227 Thay drive on the da deir be dalis and doun, And of the nobillest be-name, noumerit of nyne. 1628Gaule Pract. The. 43 Had I..Tongues and Lips numbred to those Hands of the Poets Briareus.
c. To fix the number of; to reduce to a definite number; to make few in number; to bring near to a close. (Chiefly in pass.)
1382Wyclif Dan. v. 26 God hath noumbride thi rewme, and fulfilled it. 1584R. Scot Discov. Witchcr. v. v. (1886) 79 Man..hath his daies numbred. 1593Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, i. iv. 25 The Sands are numbred, that makes vp my Life. 1847C. Brontë J. Eyre xxv, The month of courtship had wasted, its very last hours were being numbered. 1869Trollope He Knew, etc. li. (1878) 281 The opinion became general that Miss Stanbury's days were numbered. 1883Daily Tel. 10 Nov. 5/3 We are told by croakers that the days of fox-hunting are numbered in these sporting islands.
†d. To collect, up to a certain number. Obs.
1382Wyclif 2 Chron. ii. 2 And he noumbrede seuenty thousand of men berynge in schulderis. 1533Bellenden Livy ii. xvii. (S.T.S.) I. 195 Quhen þir consulis war nowmerand þare legiouns,..Comperit afore þame ane huge pepill desiring peace. 1611Bible 1 Kings xx. 25 Number thee an armie, like the armie that thou hast lost.
3. To check, control, or verify the number of; to count or tell over. Also absol.
1535Coverdale 1 Sam. xiv. 17 And whan they nombred, beholde, Ionathas & his wapen bearer was not there. 1632Massinger City Madam v. iii, Let my brother number His beads devoutly! 1692Dryden Eleonora 198 Anchises looked not with so pleased a face In numbering o'er his future Roman race. 1725Pope Odyss. xiii. 262 Then on the sands he rang'd his wealthy store, The gold, the vests, the tripods, number'd o'er. 1784Cowper Task v. 425 To wear out time in numb'ring to and fro The studs that thick emboss his iron door. 1813Shelley Q. Mab iv. 241 Or thou delight'st In numbering o'er the myriads of thy slain.
†b. To count out or pay down (money). Obs.
1502Will of Heed (Somerset Ho.), lli in Redy money nombred. 1671Milton Samson 1478 His ransom..shall willingly be paid And numberd down. 1725Portland Papers (Hist. MSS. Comm.) VI. 140 The seller carries home to the merchant's house what goods they had bargained for, where he has immediately his money numbered down.
c. To apportion (one's days) with care.
1535Coverdale Ps. lxxxix. 5 O teach vs to nombre oure dayes, that we maye applie our hertes vnto wyszdome. 1665R. Brathwait Comment. Two Tales (1901) 97 The Remainder of his Hours henceforth was to number his Daies. 1860J. W. Warter Sea-board II. 133 Days of this life's pilgrimage spared to me in mercy to number wisely.
†d. To appoint or allot to some fate. Obs.
1611Bible Isa. lxv. 12 Therefore will I number you to the sword.
e. To portion out, to divide.
1887Morris Odyss. x. 203 Then my well-greaved fellows I numbered into two companies.
4. To count, reckon, or class among certain persons or things. Chiefly const. among, in, or with.
1382Wyclif Acts i. 17 The which was noumbrid in vs, and gat the sort of this mynysterie. 1493Petronilla 27 (Pynson), She was acceptyd so in the lordys sight To be noumbryd one of the maydyns fyue. 1548–9(Mar.) Bk. Com. Prayer, Te Deum, Make them to be noumbred with thy sainctes. 1590Shakes. Mids. N. iii. ii. 67 Henceforth be neuer numbred among men. 1624Massinger Bondman iv. ii, Happy those times When lords..number'd Their servants almost equal with their sons. 1652Gaule Magastrom. xxvi, To these dreamers we may number those who give a faith of divinity to the vaticinations of madmen. 1719Swift Let. Yng. Clergym. Wks. 1751 V. 9 If..he be any where too obscure..it ought to be numbred among his Omissions. 1753Smollett Ct. Fathom (1784) 12/1 An Englishwoman, who, after having been five times a widow in one campaign, was..numbered among the baggage of the allied army. 1817Shelley Rev. Islam ix. xxix, Let sense and thought..be numbered not Among the things that are. 1884Manch. Exam. 20 Feb. 4/7 The nation which is proud to number him among her sons.
b. intr. To rank or be included with (others).
1864Tennyson Aylmer's Field 663 And tho' thou numberest with the followers Of One who cried, ‘Leave all and follow me’.
5. To assign or attach a number to (a thing); spec. to mark or distinguish by a numerical symbol.
1390Gower Conf. III. 122 Among the Signes upon heighte The Signe which is nombred eighte Is Scorpio. 1593T. Fale Art Dialling 12 Number the residue of the lines in their place as they follow in order. 1651Hobbes Leviath. iv. xlvi. 374 Men divide a Body in their thought, by numbring parts of it, and in numbring those parts number also the parts of the Place it filled. 1678Moxon Mech. Exer. vi. §31. 100 These Inches are numbred from one end of the Rule to the other. 1836–7Dickens Sk. Boz, Scenes vii, Hackney-coaches.. were..plated and numbered by the wisdom of Parliament. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. iii. I. 360 The houses were not numbered. There would indeed have been little advantage in numbering them. 1877Act 40 & 41 Vict. c. 60 §3 Every canal boat..shall be lettered, marked, and numbered in some conspicuous manner.
b. To set down in a numerical series.
1846Grote Greece i. xviii. (1862) I. 424 Kodrus is numbered as the last king of Athens.
6. To have lived, or to live (so many years).
1590Peele Polyhymnia 9 Thirty-three [years] she numbereth, in her throne, That long..I pray May number many to these thirty-three. 1601Shakes. All's Well iv. v. 86 Of as able bodie as when he number'd thirty. 1604― Oth. iii. iv. 70 A Sybill that had numbred in the world The Sun to course two hundred compasses. 1791Cowper Yardley Oak 3 My birth (Since which I number three⁓score winters past). 1850Tennyson In Mem. Concl. 9, Tho' I since then have number'd o'er Some thrice three years.
7. To include or comprise in a number; to have or comprise (so many things or persons).
c1645Milton Sonn. xi, It walk'd the Town a while, Numbring good intellects; now seldom por'd on.
1867Thirlwall Rem. III. 450 It would show not only that the Anglican Communion numbered so many Bishops. 1872Yeats Growth Comm. 91 Kafsah numbered in its environs..200 castles. 1881Freeman Venice 323 It is said that..Otranto numbered twenty-two thousand inhabitants.
b. To equal, amount to (a specified sum).
1842Tennyson Talking Oak 80 When The maiden blossoms of her teens Could number five from ten. 1881Tylor Anthropol. i. 7 It appears that the distinct languages known number about a thousand. 1883Manch. Guard. 22 Oct. 5/2 The crew and passengers numbered 33.
c. intr. To be equal in number with.
1833Tennyson Two Voices 330 A wife..Whose troubles number with his days.
8. To issue (a book) in numbers. rare—1.
1781Crabbe Library 192 A folio-Number once a week; Bibles, with cuts and comments, thus go down; E'en light Voltaire is number'd through the town. |