number noun
1 symbol/word
ADJ. cardinal, decimal, ordinal | even, odd Houses on this side of the road have even numbers. | high, low | prime | random | lucky, unlucky Many people think 13 is an unlucky number. | winning the winning numbers in tonight's lottery
VERB + NUMBER add, divide, multiply, subtract, take away Add all the numbers together, divide by ten, and take away the number you first thought of.
PHRASES in round numbers There were about 150 there, in round numbers. | number crunching (= doing calculations) There's more to accountancy than just number crunching.
2 quantity/amount
ADJ. considerable, enormous, great, huge, inordinate, large, substantial, vast | record a record number of enquiries | disproportionate, surprising | fair, reasonable, significant We've had a fair number of complaints about the new phone system. | finite, infinite There are an infinite number of solutions to the problem. | equal The candidates received an equal number of votes. | maximum, minimum | average, mean, median | adequate, sufficient | limited, small | growing, increasing, rising | exact, precise Many people have died in the epidemic?the precise number is not known. | indefinite, unspecified | approximate | total
VERB + NUMBER grow in, increase in Factories had increased in number between the wars. | decrease in, reduce in
NUMBER + VERB double, grow, increase | decline, diminish, drop, dwindle, fall (off/down) Shark numbers have dwindled as a result of hunting.
PREP. in ~ The paintings, twelve in number, are over 200 years old.
PHRASES a decline/drop in numbers The decline in numbers of young people means that fewer teachers will be needed. | a growth/an increase in numbers, few/limited/small in number Wild dogs are now few in number.
3 for identifying sb/sth
ADJ. account, identity, registration, serial, etc. | flat, house
PREP. at ~ We live at number 21.
4 telephone number
ADJ. fax, phone, telephone | home, office, work | wrong I keep getting the wrong number.
VERB + NUMBER call, dial, phone, ring | get
number verb
ADV. clearly | consecutively, sequentially
PREP. according to, by Each pigeon hole is clearly numbered by floor and by room. | from, to Number the car's features from 1 to 10 according to importance.
You can also check other dicts: number (English, 中文解释 ), wordnet sense, Collins Definition