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Definition of million number from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

million

number
 
/ˈmɪljən/
 
/ˈmɪljən/
Idioms
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  1. (abbreviation m)
    1 000 000
    • a population of half a million
    • tens of millions of dollars
    • It must be worth a million (= pounds, dollars, etc.).
    • millions of years old
    You say a, one, two, several, etc. million without a final ‘s’ on ‘million’. Millions (of…) can be used if there is no number or quantity before it. Always use a plural verb with million or millions, except when an amount of money is mentioned: Four million (people) were affected.Two million (pounds) was withdrawn from the account.
    Extra Examples
    • These fossils were millions of years in the making.
    • Millions of people now visit the Lake District each year.
    • A few million doesn't buy you what it used to.
    • The foundation has donated millions of dollars to charitable causes.
    Topics Maths and measurementa1
  2. a million, millions (of…)
    (informal) a very large amount
    • I still have a million things to do.
    • There were millions of people there.
    • He made his millions (= all his money) on currency deals.
    Extra Examples
    • Was this the way to feed the world 's starving millions?
    • The event must have cost millions.
    • Big hotels are spending millions to hire celebrity chefs.
  3. There are more examples of how to use numbers at the entry for hundred.
    Word Originlate Middle English: from Old French, probably from Italian milione, from mille ‘thousand’ + the augmentative suffix -one.
Idioms
look/feel like a million dollars/bucks
  1. (informal) to look/feel extremely good
    • Wow, you look like a million dollars.
one, etc. in a million
  1. a person or thing that is very unusual or special
    • He's a man in a million.
See million in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee million in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic English
generic
adjective
 
 
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