umpteen

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 used for an ‘indefinitely large number’, and umpteen simply replaced the -ty suffix with -teen.

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • 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… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • 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 — 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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