tons

British  

/ tʌnz /

plural noun

1. a large amount or number:

   tons of money

   I have tons of shoes

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adverb

1. (intensifier)

   I looked and felt tons better

Explanation

If you have tons of something, you have an enormous amount of it, like when you buy tons of ice cream for your birthday party. The informal tons is perfect for exaggerating, making a large quantity sound even bigger. You might say, "I have tons of friends at my new school" or "Your library is tiny — my library has tons more books!" It's a way to play up size or amount while still being vague. Tons comes from ton, which is often used colloquially ("I ate a ton of pasta"), but is also a precise unit for measuring weight.

Example Sentences

There are jokes in the show and there are tons of things in the experience that are actually very funny to me.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 22, 2026

It said this would save "approximately 40,000 metric tons of jet fuel".

From BBC • Apr. 22, 2026

The reductions announced Tuesday should allow the company to save more than 40,000 metric tons of jet fuel, Lufthansa said.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 21, 2026

Tanbreez is among the largest rare earth hard rock deposits in the world, at 45 million tons.

From Barron's • Apr. 17, 2026

Erebus was 105 feet long and weighed 372 tons.

From "Shipwrecked!" by Martin W. Sandler

Related Words

• oodles