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Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

numbers game en · NOUN

Meanings

  1. A lottery in which bettors attempt to guess which numbers will later be drawn randomly; especially, an illicit one.
    • Back in that day, mafias ran the numbers games and there was no such thing as a state lottery.
  2. The incorrect use of statistics (numbers) to reflect a desired result (usually misleading).
    • They're playing a numbers game to make it look like seat belts and vaccines are dangerous.
    • Is it not as misleading to apply a simple numbers game to the Civil Service as it is to the police? 1969, Eric Ogden, “Government Departments (Staffing)”, in parliamentary debates (British House of Commons):
    • The Secretary of State was quick to mention the problems of the 1960s and the 1970s. He criticised the quick-build policies pursued then. He later threw in the 1950s as well. That was when the numbers game was all. We see today the results of playing the numbers game. 1985, Jeff Rooker, “Inner Cities”, in parliamentary debates (British House of Commons):
    • I made it clear in a recent letter to the Minister, to which I do not expect him to reply tonight, that we will not play the numbers game of setting targets. 1987, Jeff Rooker, “Housing and Homelessness”, in parliamentary debates (British House of Commons):
    • Mr. John Powley (Norwich, South): The hon. Member for Newham, North-West (Mr. Banks) was careful to say that at any one time no more than four GLC officers were present in the Committee. He did not say that only four had ever been present. Is it not possible that, through the long hours, relays of four different people at different times have been involved in the argument? Mr. Martin Stevens: That is what is called playing the numbers game. I do no more than thank my hon. Friend for his kind intervention. 1985, “Interpretation”, in parliamentary debates (British House of Commons):
  3. An activity that benefits from having many things to work with or on; a focus on quantity.
    • In this business, breakeven is a numbers game: if you can achieve enough volume, you'll be all right.
    • Plant breeding is always a numbers game.[…]The wild species we use are rich in genetic variation, and individual plants are highly heterozygous and do not breed true. In addition, we are looking for rare alleles, so the more plants we try, the better. 2013 May-June, David Van Tassel, Lee DeHaan, “Wild Plants to the Rescue”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3, archived from the original on 14 Aug 2013, page 222:
    • If dating is, as Match.com's Trish McDermott puts it, “a number's game^([sic])”, there can be no denying that the numbers are increased online. The speed and affordability of these services are further attractions. 2002 August 22, Andrea Semple, quoting Trish McDermott, “Love bytes”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC:
    • Which means that men playing a high-numbers game actually risk being bad in bed because they’re just doing the same things all the time, just with different women and not “developing their repertoire”, as it were. 2018 July 29, Barbara Ellen, “Men, please stop boasting – sex is more than just a numbers game”, in The Observer, →ISSN:
    • At the same time, if you’re chasing the mobile pennies that replaced the digital dimes that replaced the print dollars, then the numbers game becomes more important than ever. Mobile publishing is a big-company game, and the big companies playing it are filling their newsrooms with “growth editors” and data scientists and “audience development” experts, all of whom basically have one job: maximise traffic, by any means necessary. 2015 November 22, Felix Salmon, “Is mobile making media all the same?”, in The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC:
    • Much online dating advice describes dating as a numbers game, where you increase your chances of a good match by going out with as many people as possible. Dating is indeed a numbers game, Young agrees – but one about identifying a small, focused number of people. 2026 April 23, Madeleine Aggeler, “‘I felt like I’d stumbled on a cheat code’: what is the burned haystack dating method?”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
  4. (uncommon) A game or sport that is dominated by analytics.
    • Is rugby union losing its way by becoming a numbers game? [title] 2020 January 9, Paul Rees, “Is rugby union losing its way by becoming a numbers game?”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
    • Somehow, to me, it's not quite as fun now that they've turned it into a numbers game.

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
numbers games Number=Plur lexicographic

Coordinates

p-hacking · data dredging · dice game · game

Hypernyms

game of chance · game

Relateds

number games · number game · Moneyball

Synonyms

numbers[Appendix:Glossary

Translations (2)

es cuestión numeraria (an activity that benefits from having many things to work with or on; a focus on quantity) · es cuestión de números (an activity that benefits from having many things to work with or on; a focus on quantity)