billion

/ˈbɪljən/

/ˈbɪljən/

Other forms: billions

A billion is 1,000,000,000. There are over 7 billion people in the world, the last time we checked.

While billion may sounds like a made-up number like zillion — which just means a lot — it's a very real number, specifically 1,000,000,000. That's a pretty hard number to imagine, but one way to think of it is as a thousand millions. If you have a billion dollars, you're very rich: a billionaire. Money spent by the government is often measured in billions. In England, this word often refers to a different number: 1,000,000,000,000, or one million millions.

Definitions of billion

1. adjective

   denoting a quantity consisting of one thousand million items or units in the United States
   synonyms:

   cardinal

   being or denoting a numerical quantity but not order
2. adjective

   denoting a quantity consisting of one million million items or units in Great Britain
   synonyms:

   cardinal

   being or denoting a numerical quantity but not order
3. noun

   the number that is represented as a one followed by 9 zeros
   synonyms: 1000000000, one thousand million

   types:

   milliard

   a billion

   type of:

   large integer

   an integer equal to or greater than ten
4. noun

   the number that is represented as a one followed by 12 zeros; in the United Kingdom the usage followed in the United States is frequently seen
   synonyms: 1000000000000, one million million

   type of:

   large integer

   an integer equal to or greater than ten
5. noun

   a very large indefinite number (usually used as an exaggeration)
   synonyms: bazillion, gazillion, jillion, kazillion, million, trillion, zillion

   type of:

   large indefinite amount, large indefinite quantity

   an indefinite quantity that is above the average in size or magnitude