numbers

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of number.

   The numbers on the old clock glowed faintly in the dark.

   Analysts crunched the numbers before the quarterly meeting.

   Note

   The ordinary -s plural, and it belongs to the countable uses of number: the numerals on a clock face, the integers and reals of mathematics, positions in a list, the digits and letters that register cars and people. The verb meaning "counts" or "amounts to" has exactly the same spelling, so only position tells them apart. The noun follows an article or adjective, and the verb follows a singular subject.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of number.

   The colony numbers in the millions during the summer months.

   The archivist numbers every document before adding it to the catalog.

   Note

   The present-tense verb that agrees with he, she, it or a singular noun, and its object decides its meaning. Without one it gives a total, often followed by in: the colony numbers in the millions. With one it assigns labels or counts off a series: the archivist numbers every document. The plain sense "counts" is archaic and literary, so keep it for elevated prose.

3. 3
   nounplural

   A quantity of people or things considered together as a group, especially a large one.

   The defending army was overwhelmed by the enemy's superior numbers.

   Volunteers turned out in impressive numbers for the cleanup drive.

   Note

   A plural with no singular, used when quantity itself is a kind of strength: an army, a species, a crowd. It sits comfortably after have and replenish, as in "we didn't have the numbers to go to war" in BioWare's Mass Effect (2007). Eoin Colfer's Artemis Fowl (2001) puts the idea baldly: "Numbers would subdue even magic."

4. 4
   nounpluralwith theabbreviationellipsis

   Ellipsis of numbers game.

   She bet on the numbers using her daughter's birthday for luck.

   Local bosses controlled the numbers across several city blocks.

   Note

   Here the plural stands in for the whole phrase numbers game, and it needs the article. People play the numbers, never just play numbers. What it names is the lottery in which bettors guess which numbers will later be drawn, especially an illicit one. It is often a daily habit, as in "her aunt played the numbers every day for years."

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