hundreds

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
hundred/ˈhʌndrəd/

▶cardinal number (pl. hundreds or (with numeral or quantifying word) hundred)

• 1 (a/one hundred) the number equivalent to the product of ten and ten; ten more than ninety; 100. (Roman numeral: c or C)

• 2 (hundreds) informal an unspecified large number.

• 3 used to express whole hours in the twenty-four-hour system.

▶noun Brit. historical a subdivision of a county or shire, having its own court.

– phrases
a (or one) hundred per cent entirely.

■ [usu. with neg.] informal completely fit and healthy.

■ informal maximum effort and commitment.

– derivatives
hundredfold adjective & adverb,
hundredth ordinal number.

– origin OE, from hund ‘hundred’ + a second element meaning ‘number’, of Gmc origin; the noun was perh. orig. equivalent to a hundred hides of land (see hide3).