random number

[ ran-duhm nuhm-ber ]

noun

, Statistics.

1. a number chosen by a random sampling, as from a table random number table or produced by a random number generator.

Word History and Origins

Origin of random number¹

First recorded in 1925–30

Example Sentences

Her winning numbers were chosen via a combination of birthdays, birth years and a random number.

From BBC

On the morning of 25 October last year Mr Chen received a text from a random number in the morning saying "hi Jason will see shortly mate".

From BBC

This means that there is not only unsorted noise, but also fluctuations in which the system switches back and forth between two well-defined states.Such fast, purely random switching has never been observed before and could be interesting for applications such as random number generators.

From Science Daily

To decide where the company wants to be with its new profit margin, it cannot just throw out a random number.

From Encyclopedia.com

The “drivers” were presented witha random number and had to count aloud backward by either ones or threes.

From Scientific American