Definition of ten in English:

cardinal number

• 1Equivalent to the product of five and two; one more than nine; 10.

  ‘the last ten years’

  ‘the house comfortably sleeps ten’

  ‘a ten-foot shrub’

  More example sentences

  • ‘I looked at him impassively for about five or ten seconds.’
  • ‘Cook the cookies until the glaze is set, which should be for five to ten minutes.’
  • ‘Most courses run for between nine and ten weeks.’
  • ‘She can live like this another five or ten years.’
  • ‘One minute of laughing is equivalent to ten minutes on a rowing machine.’
  • ‘She always sleeps nine or ten hours the night before the race.’
  • ‘Residents have lost between five and ten feet from their gardens.’
  • ‘He was said to be around five feet ten inches tall.’
  • ‘He scored ten goals in nine games.’
  • ‘When I survey the parking lot, there are maybe five to ten spots vacant.’
  • ‘A good article should be just as relevant five or ten years after it is published.’
  • ‘Nine times out of ten when we played each other, they would beat us.’
  • ‘As always at this time of the year, he takes nine or ten weeks off.’
  • ‘Leave in the tin for five to ten minutes, then remove and serve.’
  • ‘The park is staffed for nine to ten hours a day, six days a week.’
  • ‘They just don't have time to go to five or ten different shops.’
  • ‘The food store had enough food in it to comfortably feed the five of them for ten years.’
  • ‘Remove the meat and allow to cool for five to ten minutes.’
  • ‘Clients may choose between promotional plans for three, five and ten years.’
  • ‘Toxicology tests will take between five and ten days.’

  1. 1.1 A group or unit of ten people or things.
     ‘count in tens’

     More example sentences

     • ‘A couple lost tens of thousands of pounds after their close friend admitted fraud.’
     • ‘People were trickling across, but in the dozens rather than tens of thousands.’
     • ‘If you apply that cost to tens of thousands of devices, you can see the impact.’
     • ‘Police chiefs said closing the unit would save taxpayers tens of thousands of pounds.’
     • ‘Over the past few decades tens of thousands of Irish farming families have been forced off the land.’
     • ‘Tens of thousands of people poured onto the streets to topple a corrupt regime.’
     • ‘As the herd is driven slowly past, one man counts the animals in tens while the other writes down the numbers.’
     • ‘It's rather odd that time just isn't counted in tens.’
     • ‘His army numbers in the tens of thousands.’
     • ‘They are the first ten of several dozen commandments delivered to Moses.’
     • ‘It is the favoured destination for tens of thousands of couples.’
     • ‘Crowds that numbered in their tens of thousands were standing outside the cathedral chanting his name.’
     • ‘There is more than enough food in the world to feed everyone, yet tens of thousands of people are starving.’
     • ‘We have increased by tens of thousands the number of surgical procedures being carried out in this country.’
     • ‘Companies competed for tens of thousands of new customers.’
     • ‘Huge sea turtles numbering in the tens of millions flourished in the Caribbean.’
     • ‘Cattle numbers plummeted from tens of thousands to mere hundreds.’
     • ‘The Romans represented units, tens, hundreds, and thousands as separate items in their numbers.’
     • ‘People count by tens and machines count by twos.’
     • ‘The opinions of tens of thousands of other scientists don't count, because they're all biased.’

     Synonyms

     decade

     View synonyms
  2. 1.2 Ten years old.
     ‘the boy was no more than ten’

     More example sentences

     • ‘At about age ten, you and the family set sail for Perth.’
     • ‘Mr Wilson got his first camera when he was about nine or ten.’
     • ‘The riders are all ages, some maybe under ten years of age.’
     • ‘The club hopes to expand membership particular among girls and players aged under ten years old.’
     • ‘The couple have eight children from their previous marriages, ranging in age from ten to 18.’
     • ‘In her car were six or seven children, all between the ages of ten an thirteen.’
     • ‘She has sons aged ten and six.’
     • ‘All boys and girls under ten years of age are welcome to participate.’
     • ‘A witness had seen a youth, perhaps aged as young as ten or 11, acting suspiciously.’
     • ‘She was a single mother of two children aged ten and eleven-years-old.’
     • ‘She began her piano studies at the age of ten.’
     • ‘It was amazing to observe how she entertained the children, who ranged in age from three to ten years old.’
     • ‘Athletes must be ten years of age in order to run in the Championship events.’
     • ‘I'd put their ages at eight and ten.’
     • ‘My eldest grandson, aged ten, was my golf partner.’
     • ‘Membership is open to girls between the ages of seven and ten years of age.’
     • ‘They would go canoeing at a time when the children were all under the age of ten.’
     • ‘Members organised a fancy dress Hallowe'en party for children under ten years of age in the community centre.’
     • ‘The courses are usually attended by groups of youngsters - some aged as young as ten.’
     • ‘She will now lead the activities for girls aged from seven to ten in the Brownies.’
  3. 1.3 Ten o'clock.
     ‘at about ten at night I got a call’

     More example sentences

     • ‘She works from eight o'clock in the morning to ten o'clock at night, six days a week.’
     • ‘At ten o'clock tonight I cruised home on the back of a scooter taxi.’
     • ‘Glancing at his watch, he realized that it was almost ten o'clock.’
     • ‘At ten o'clock sharp every night he would go to a bar or a club.’
     • ‘After ten o'clock in the evening there were not many people out on the streets.’
     • ‘At ten o'clock, they went back to their rooms and said good night to each other.’
     • ‘That night, around ten in the evening, he sent me a message.’
     • ‘The party started in the afternoon and continued until ten o'clock the next morning.’
     • ‘It was ten o'clock at night, but there wasn't much chance of a rest.’
     • ‘I started out this morning at ten o'clock.’
     • ‘Shortly after ten o'clock the sound of trumpets could be heard outside the house.’
     • ‘The next train to Cambridge did not leave until ten o'clock the following morning.’
     • ‘Arriving back by ten o'clock, we went straight to the sitting room and sat on the sofa.’
     • ‘They had to work until ten o'clock at night.’
     • ‘As we plodded out into the garden about ten o'clock this evening, a thin layer of dark cloud drifted across from the south-east.’
     • ‘It was ten o'clock on a Friday night, and I could think of better places to be.’
     • ‘Ben was due to fly out that night at ten o'clock.’
     • ‘It was about ten o'clock yesterday evening when the bell tolled.’
     • ‘Hitting the alarm clock he saw it was ten o'clock in the morning.’
     • ‘The ceremony continued from four in the morning to ten at night.’
  4. 1.4 A size of garment or other merchandise denoted by ten.
     Example sentences

     • ‘I was attractive, a size ten and got a lot of attention.’
     • ‘I like to use a size twelve hook, though Lee prefers a size ten.’
     • ‘I could wear my size ten and twelve clothes a week after my first daughter was born.’
     • ‘I used to be very pretty and could fit into anything that was a size ten.’
     • ‘It hadn't been easy to find high heels in a size ten.’
  5. 1.5 A ten-pound note or ten-dollar bill.
     ‘he took the money in tens’

     More example sentences

     • ‘I'll use one of my tens and combine our money to buy it for you!’
     • ‘She took out her wallet and dug out a fifty-dollar bill, a ten, a five, and three ones’
     • ‘She could tell exactly how much of that thick stack of cash was of ones, fives, tens, and hundred-dollar bills.’
     • ‘She saw two fifty-dollar bills, followed by several twenties, a ten, a five, and four one-dollar-bills’
     • ‘She gave me a ten and I gave her five back.’
     • ‘Kelly glared at me before pulling out her wallet and giving me a twenty, a ten, and a one’
     • ‘He paid her with a ten, and walked out’
     • ‘He handed the waiter a ten and a twenty.’
     • ‘He scanned the few bills that he had left - a ten and some ones.’
     • ‘There were two one dollar bills, one five dollar bill, and two tens - plus three dollars in change.’
     • ‘He returned and placed a ten, a five, and three ones on the bar’
     • ‘Simon hands the cashier a ten.’
     • ‘I reached into my pocket, searching for a five-dollar bill, but Lance slapped down a ten’
     • ‘Reaching into his pocket, he pulls out a ten and I give him his change.’
     • ‘I finished my beer and gave the bartender a ten.’
  6. 1.6 A playing card with ten pips.
     ‘the ten of hearts’

     More example sentences

     • ‘Anyone who holds the ace, king, queen, jack or ten of hearts takes all the chips.’
     • ‘The most valuable cards are aces and tens.’
     • ‘The aces, tens and face cards have point values associated with them.’
     • ‘The aces and tens are called sharp cards and are worth 10 points each.’
     • ‘The tens are taken out of a normal 52 card pack, leaving 48 cards.’
     • ‘This pack can be made from two standard 52-card packs by omitting all the tens and picture cards.’
     • ‘If any of these hand cards are tens or face cards, players can discard some or all of those cards.’
     • ‘Aces behave like a tens, but can only be played on a jack, queen or king.’
     • ‘Take a pack of playing cards and remove the jokers, tens, jacks and queens.’
     • ‘You can play a red ten on a black jack.’
     • ‘A hand of tens and jacks usually heralds catastrophe.’
     • ‘The kings of diamonds are the highest trumps instead of the tens of hearts.’
     • ‘If you only have a trio of tens and are sure your opponent has a trio of aces, there is little point in announcing the tens.’
     • ‘The object is to capture aces, tens and the last trick.’
     • ‘On my first night of Internet poker I crushed a seasoned player with a pair of tens.’
     • ‘Four aces, kings, queens or tens are worth 100.’
     • ‘The guy makes a big bet and I look down to find a pair of tens.’
     • ‘The game point goes to the side that wins the ten of trumps in a trick.’
     • ‘Kings and tens are worth 10 points each.’
     • ‘The ten is placed face up with Jack and Queen on top of it.’