DictionaryAI

trillion

TRIL-yuhn/ˈtɹɪljən/

Noun pluraltrillions

4 meanings of trillion

Practice

  1. 1
    numeralAustralia
    A number equal to a million millions, written as 1 with twelve zeros after it.

    If you counted one number every second, reaching a trillion would take over thirty thousand years.

    The national debt has grown to nearly two trillion dollars.

    Scientists estimate the galaxy holds more than a trillion stars.

    Note
  2. 2
    numeralcolloquial
    A huge number of things, more than you can easily count.

    Like saying 'a million times': it just means a huge amount, not a real count.

    I've told you a trillion times to clean your room.

    There were a trillion mosquitoes buzzing around the campsite that night.

    Similarmillion, billion

    Note
  3. 3
    numeraldatedAustraliaBritish
    A very large number equal to 1 followed by eighteen zeros, in the old British meaning.

    This older meaning is a million times larger than the number most people mean today.

    The old encyclopedia listed the ocean's volume as several trillion gallons.

    His Victorian schoolbook counted the distant stars in their trillions.

    Similarquintillion

    Note
  4. 4
    nounslangcountable
    In basketball, a player's record for a game in which they play but score no points and record no other stats.

    It is like getting a turn but doing nothing that shows up on the score sheet.

    The benchwarmer checked in for one minute and finished the night with a trillion.

    Coming off the bench late, the rookie managed only a trillion.

    Note

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of trillion apart? Answer 4 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origins

Meanings 1–3

From French trillion, made from tri- meaning "three" plus -illion.

Meaning 4

Made up by Harvey Pollack, from the way numbers read across a basketball box score.