umpteen

umpteen
umpteen ump"teen, a. An indefinite number, usu. more than ten and less than one hundred; a lot. Often used hyperbolically, and usually expressing the notion of more than the usual number or more than I would like. [Colloq.] ``I've told you umpteen times not to do that.'' [PJC]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.

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  • umpteen — 1917, World War I army slang, from UMPTY (Cf. umpty) + TEEN (Cf. teen). Related: Umpteenth …   Etymology dictionary

  • umpteen — ► CARDINAL NUMBER informal ▪ indefinitely many. DERIVATIVES umpteenth ordinal number. ORIGIN humorous formation …   English terms dictionary

  • umpteen — [ump′tēn′] adj. [ump , indefinite sound for an uncertain number + TEEN] Slang a great number of; very many umpteenth adj …   English World dictionary

  • umpteen — [[t]ʌ̱mpti͟ːn[/t]] DET: DET pl n (emphasis) Umpteen can be used to refer to an extremely large number of things or people. [INFORMAL] He was interrupted by applause umpteen times... He has produced umpteen books, plays and television series. Syn …   English dictionary

  • umpteen — ump|teen [ˌʌmpˈti:n] determiner very many used especially when you are annoyed there are so many ▪ There seemed to be umpteen rules and regulations to learn. ▪ She d called the apartment umpteen times, but never got an answer …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • umpteen — [20] Umpteen was derived from an earlier umpty. This began life as a signallers’ slang term for a ‘dash’ in morse code (like its companion iddy for ‘dot’, it was purely fanciful in origin). Its similarity to twenty, thirty, etc led to its being… …   The Hutchinson dictionary of word origins

  • umpteen — [“amptin] mod. many; innumerable. □ I’ve told you umpteen times not to feed the cat right out of the can. □ There are umpteen ways to do this right. Can you manage to do one of them? …   Dictionary of American slang and colloquial expressions

  • umpteen — [20] Umpteen was derived from an earlier umpty. This began life as a signallers’ slang term for a ‘dash’ in morse code (like its companion iddy for ‘dot’, it was purely fanciful in origin). Its similarity to twenty, thirty, etc led to its being… …   Word origins

  • umpteen — ump|teen [ ,ʌmp tin ] determiner INFORMAL many: We must have phoned umpteen times but never got an answer. ╾ ump|teenth adjective: Stop worrying, she told herself for the umpteenth time …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • umpteen — determiner informal a large number of: There seemed to be umpteen rules and regulations to learn. umpteenth number …   Longman dictionary of contemporary English

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