billion
noun
bil·lion
| \ ˈbi(l)-yən
\
\
Definition of billion
1
US
: a number equal to 1,000 million — see Table of Numbers
also, British
: a number equal to 1,000 milliard — see Table of Numbers
2
: a very large number
Keep scrolling for more
Other Words from billion
billion
adjective
billionth
\ ˈbi(l)-yən(t)th
\
adjective or noun
\
adjective or noun
Examples of billion in a Sentence
We could see a billion stars in the sky.
Recent Examples on the Web
Today's crisis also puts this country on the trajectory toward a systemwide collapse, and the elimination of billions in retirement dollars and tens of thousands of jobs. — CNN, "America is facing a pension crisis. Retirees will pay the price if we don't act now," 14 Aug. 2019 Hundreds of billions of protons and antiprotons were accelerated close to the speed of light and then smashed together. — Quanta Magazine, "A Call for Courage as Physicists Confront Collider Dilemma," 7 Aug. 2019 Recent advancements in next-generation sequencing techniques allow for billions of DNA sequences to be read easily and simultaneously. — Sang Yup Lee, Scientific American, "DNA Data Storage Is Closer Than You Think," 1 July 2019 And the IPv6 addressing scheme, introduced in 1998, is being implemented with enough capacity for billions of unique addresses for every living person. — Popular Mechanics, "The Death of the Internet," 7 Feb. 2019 Proposals include cutting taxes that retirees pay on pensions; increasing the minimum wage; boosting social-welfare payments; and persuading banks to stop charging overdraft fees that add up to billions, Mr. Vignal said. — Stacy Meichtry, WSJ, "Protests Threaten Macron’s Campaign to Remake France," 9 Dec. 2018 This week, a California federal judge ruled the case could proceed, potentially exposing Facebook to billions in damages. — Jessica Guynn, USA TODAY, "Facebook wants to save your face. Should you say yes to facial recognition?," 19 Apr. 2018 For the first time in history, a single person can customize a message for billions and share it with them within a matter of days. — Wired Opinion, WIRED, "AI Algorithms Need FDA-Style Drug Trials," 15 Aug. 2019 Last year for the first time, gun control groups, with major backing from former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s billions, outspent gun rights groups by almost 2-to-1 in the midterm elections. — NBC News, "Who's afraid of the NRA? Democratic candidates have never been more united on gun control," 10 Aug. 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'billion.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Keep scrolling for more
Keep scrolling for more
More Definitions for billion
billion
noun
English Language Learners Definition of billion
: the number 1,000,000,000 : one thousand million
: a very large amount or number
British, old-fashioned
: the number 1,000,000,000,000
See the full definition for billion in the English Language Learners Dictionary
billion
noun
bil·lion
| \ ˈbil-yən
\
\
Kids Definition of billion
1
: a thousand millions
2
: a very large number
billions of stars
Keep scrolling for more