as many

Idioms & Phrases

as many

  1. The same number of. For example, He changed jobs four times in as many years means he changed jobs four times in four years. [c. 1400]

  2. as many as. A phrase used to qualify the meaning of many as a very large number, depending on what follows it. For example, You can take as many pens as you need. [Late 1300s] Also see as ... as; as much as.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
Cite This Source
Dictionary.com, LLC. Copyright © 2012. All rights reserved.
  • Please Login or Sign Up to use the Recent Searches feature