Word origins - 2ed. J. Ayto. 2005.
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
