ten

¹ American

[ten] / tɛn /

noun

a cardinal number, nine plus one.
a symbol for this number, as 10 or X.
a set of this many persons or things.
a playing card with ten pips.
Informal. a ten-dollar bill.

She had two tens and a five in her purse.
Also called ten's place. Mathematics.
1. (in a mixed number) the position of the second digit to the left of the decimal point.
2. (in a whole number) the position of the second digit from the right.

adjective

amounting to ten in number.

idioms

take ten, to rest from what one is doing, especially for ten minutes.

ten. ² American

abbreviation

tenor.
Music. tenuto.

ten ¹ British

/ tɛn /

noun

the cardinal number that is the sum of nine and one. It is the base of the decimal number system and the base of the common logarithm See also number
a numeral, 10, X, etc, representing this number
something representing, represented by, or consisting of ten units, such as a playing card with ten symbols on it
Also called: ten o'clock. ten hours after noon or midnight

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

determiner

1. amounting to ten
  
  ten tigers
2. ( as pronoun )
  
  to sell only ten

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

ten- ² British

combining form

a variant of teno-

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

ten More Idioms

see count to ten; not touch with a ten-foot pole.

Etymology

Origin of ten

before 900; Middle English ten ( e ), tenn ( e ), Old English tēn ( e ), tīen ( e ); cognate with Dutch tien, German zehn, Old Norse tīu, Gothic taihun, Latin decem, Greek déka, Sanskrit daśa

Vocabulary lists containing ten

3-letter words, List 2

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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Fewer than a third regarded the North as a potential partner, and just over one in ten support actively pursuing reunification.

From Barron's • Jun. 15, 2026

“Our time horizon is three, five, seven, even ten years,” Tengler wrote.

From MarketWatch • Jun. 12, 2026

At ten words, its accuracy fell to 57%.

From Science Daily • Jun. 10, 2026

Rangnick made way for Erik ten Hag, who simultaneously praised McTominay's fighting qualities while at the same signing a battery of players in his position.

From BBC • Jun. 10, 2026

Every time they see each other, they whisper: “They’ll be back in ten days.”

From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023