(n.) According to the French and American method of numeration, a thousand millions, or 1,000,000,000; according to the English method, a million millions, or 1,000,000,000,000. See Numeration.
Example Sentences:
(1) Project grants to selected State and local agencies amounted to about $.8 billion.
(2) Quotes Justin Timberlake: "Even more importantly customers love it … over 20 million listening on iTunes Radio, listened to over a billion songs.
(3) For more than half a century, Saudi leaders manipulated the United States by feeding our oil addiction, lavishing money on politicians, helping to finance American wars, and buying billions of dollars in weaponry from US companies.
(4) Its struggling mobile phone business resulted in a net loss of 136 billion yen for the three months to September, although that figure was smaller than analysts had predicted.
(5) "It will mean root-and-branch change for our banks if we are to deliver real change for Britain, if we are to rebuild our economy so it works for working people, and if we are to restore trust in a sector of our economy worth billions of pounds and hundreds of thousands of jobs to our country."
(6) The deal will also be scrutinised to see if its claims of new billions to jump start world economies prove to be inflated.
(7) Nick Nuttall, a spokesman for UNEP, said the latest findings should encourage more governments to follow moves by some politicians to invest billions of dollars in clean energy and efficiency as a way of curbing greenhouse gases.
(8) On the other hand, if the world population grew to 1-2 billion fertile women, the million tons of contraceptive steroids needed would require an inexpensive total synthesis.
(9) By easing these huge flows of hundreds of billions across borders, the single currency played a material role in causing the continent's crisis.
(10) The US farm bill is a multi-billion dollar piece of legislation that controls the federal government's spending on farm subsidies, food for the domestic poor, agriculture conservation programmes, and overseas food aid , among other things.
(11) And the number has risen sharply since 1980, with nearly 1 billion people added to the ranks of the poor over the past 35 years.
(12) The total earnings gap between the 2 groups was +17.6 billion (1986 dollars).
(13) • Mubarak becomes a major mediator in the Arab-Israeli peace process, remaining a consistent US ally bolstered by billions of dollars in American aid.
(14) Many alternative, more reliable sources of public finance are out there – a tax on financial transactions would provide billions of dollars of new money for developing countries to tackle climate change head on."
(15) Sir Ken Morrison, supermarkets Jersey trusts protect the billion-pound wealth of the 83-year-old Bradford-born Morrisons supermarket founder and a large number of his family members.
(16) It forecasts the pressure on forests will increase as world population grows by more than 2.5 billion people in the next 40 years.
(17) This would deplete the budget by a further $3.53 billion over the same four-year period," his report says.
(18) The world's population was 5.2 billion in 1990, which is increasing at an annual rate of 90 million, mainly in the developing countries.
(19) Ukraine has said it needs $35 billion over the next two years to stave off bankruptcy.
(20) The U.S. also needs significant regulatory and financial support, including "billions in loan guarantees," the report said.
Bullion
Definition:
(n.) Uncoined gold or silver in the mass.
(n.) Base or uncurrent coin.
(n.) Showy metallic ornament, as of gold, silver, or copper, on bridles, saddles, etc.
(n.) Heavy twisted fringe, made of fine gold or silver wire and used for epaulets; also, any heavy twisted fringe whose cords are prominent.
Example Sentences:
(1) If you hold more than a few thousand pounds [at home] you are likely to invalidate your household insurance, or will have to pay an extra premium and install security measures.” Bullion Vault’s 60,000 customers own the gold they buy, but it is held in vaults in London, Zürich, New York, Toronto or Singapore.
(2) China is poised to overtake India to become the world's biggest market for gold this year thanks to soaring investment purchases of bullion and steadily rising jewellery sales, according to the World Gold Council's annual report.
(3) Demand for gold bullion has surged as people have snapped up coins and bars while the EU referendum result is too close to call, according to the Royal Mint.
(4) On the night of 26 January 1985, Reader was present at the Kent home of Kenneth Noye , who, like Reader, was suspected by the police of receiving the stolen bullion from the 1983 £26m Brink’s-Mat robbery at Heathrow airport .
(5) They aren’t just blocks of bullion in the sky.” In the latest sign that London homebuyers are being squeezed out by wealthy international investors, foreign purchasers have bought 80% of the properties in a series of big Thameside housing developments.
(6) AngloGold Ashanti, South Africa's biggest bullion producer, has lost nearly all local production due to 24,000 workers being on strike, while rival Harmony Gold has also taken a hit.
(7) Chris Howard, the Royal Mint’s director of bullion, said the Mint’s 1,000-year history means that it is recognised around the world as a reliable authority on precious metals.
(8) Cascades of golden light overpower the sun, rising from a jumble of massive titanium forms piled on top of each other, part train crash and part explosion in a bullion vault.
(9) The Bilbao Guggenheim is a treaty port negotiated with the burghers of this rather down-at-heel city, part bullion vault and part glimmering mirage to cow and dazzle the natives.
(10) Gold The price of gold usually rises in times of economic crisis because bullion is seen as a safe-haven asset.
(11) Much of this was due to physical buying of bullion: purchases of gold bars rose by more than a third to almost 1,200 metric tonnes, particularly in China, Germany, Switzerland and Austria.
(12) Sterling-priced bullion hit a high of £783.33 an ounce and gold also set records in euros and Swiss francs.
(13) It is stored in a safe location and you pay a small administration fee every year, typically around 1% of the average value of the bullion, plus VAT.” Another option is coins, which can be things of great beauty.
(14) Under questioning, Bernanke also said "tradition" dictated that most central banks held large quantities of gold bullion in reserve, rather than another asset such as diamonds.
(15) He rattled through the stories of Turing's peculiarities – burying his silver bullion and then forgetting where; chaining his mug to his radiator; cycling in his gas mask to ward off hay fever.
(16) Sales of Royal Mint gold bullion coins increased after they were awarded VAT-free status.
(17) Even so, the Mint launched Signature Gold on the bullion trading site last month, allowing customers to buy a fractional amount of a 400 oz gold bar.
(18) Signature video Gold Bullion Vault , in which the pair are admitted to the Bank of England's holiest of holies, which gives Poliakoff the excuse to calculate the value of his weight in gold (roughly £2.5m).
(19) Guy Foster, head of research at Brewin Dolphin, says gold is a curious asset: “It is supposed to be a store of value, but by conventional investment metrics it is almost valueless.” You can invest in exchange traded funds such as the SPDR Gold Trust, which tracks the spot price of gold; a gold miner such as Randgold Resources; or buy bullion or coins.
(20) Royal Mint launches online dealing account … in gold Read more The group said its bullion business faced “difficult global market conditions” over the past year.