2.242 USAGE NOTE

People often use the plural forms when they are exaggerating.

• I was meeting thousands of people.
• Do you have to fill in hundreds of forms before you go?

You can also emphasize or exaggerate a large number by using these words in qualifying prepositional phrases beginning with 'by'.

• ...a book which sells by the million.
• ...people who give injections by the dozen.
• Calculators like this are now selling by the hundred thousand.