billion

[US]/ˈbɪljən/
[UK]/ˈbɪljən/
Frequency: Very High

Translation

n. a very large number, typically one thousand million or more
num. the number equivalent to one thousand million
adj. relating to one thousand million
Word Forms
Pluralbillions

Phrases & Collocations

a billion dollars

billions of people

billionaire

billions in revenue

Example Sentences

half a billion dollars.

a £49 billion debt write-off

the problem persists despite the billions spent on it.

15 billion cubic metres of water.

some $12.8 billion was funnelled through the Marshall Plan.

a $400 billion price tag was put on the venture.

the government spent £3 billion in an attempt to prop up the pound.

they are facing an expected $10 billion shortfall in revenue.

The budget should hit the $136 billion target on the nose.

1.5 billion cubic metres of earth were/was moved.

government waste has bilked the taxpayer of billions dollars.

our immune systems are killing billions of germs right now.

weighed around 30 pounds; around $1.3 billion in debt.

two billion barrels of oil that could lift this nation out of chronic poverty.

a plan to liquidate £1 billion worth of property over seven years.

Borrowing is set to soar to an astonishing £60 billion.

when entrepreneurs get to $1 billion they crap out and turn their companies over to others.

he savaged the government for wasting billions in their failed bid to prop up the pound.

Here's the cyanea's-eye view of a reef flat that seems like nothing but a couple of billion hidey-holes.

Bush misspoke as he delivered a speech at the signing ceremony for a $417 billion defense spending bill.

Real-world Examples

That includes about 886 billion for defense spending and $704 billion for non-defense spending.

Source: CNN 10 Student English of the Month

Day7 Another vogue trader has cost a bank billions.

Source: Daily English Listening Daily Dictation, this is Shane's most popular series (Coach Shane's class).

We stockpile in the millions, the billions...

Source: Technology Trends

How will those next three billion live?

Source: Modern University English Intensive Reading (2nd Edition) Volume 4

$4 billion for a $62 billion company?

Source: newsroom

Estimates for building the wall ranged from $10 billion to $70 billion.

Source: CNN 10 Student English March 2018 Collection

That is three years longer than it took to move from 7 billion to 8 billion.

Source: This month VOA Special English

We have in the world about four billion hectares of forests.

Source: TED Talks (Audio Version) January 2015 Collection

The House has narrowly approved $1.9 billion to fortify the Capitol after the Jan.6 insurrection.

Source: AP Listening Collection May 2021

The world's population has reached eight billion.

Source: Learn English by following hot topics.

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