force of numbers

force of numbers

1. The power, influence, or advantage achieved by having large number of people or things acting together. People seem not to be realizing that the force of numbers turning out to support this political movement has turned it into something to be reckoned with. Companies that believe they'll remain relevant through the sheer force of numbers they employ are those that come crashing down the hardest.
2. Various statistical elements that, when taken together, create a clear influence or advantage. The youngest player in the tournament, she has, through the sheer force of numbers, earned a top-seeded position, outranking established veterans who haven't had as wildly successful seasons.
See also: force, number, of
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
See also:
  • a couple of (people or things)
  • couple
  • couple of
  • big and bold
  • come from far and wide
  • along the beaten track
  • beaten
  • (there are) too many chiefs and not enough Indians
  • chief
  • bring out in droves
References in classic literature
But they gave good account of themselves, and before they had been overborne by force of numbers they had killed two and disabled three more.
Robin Hood
He would swoop noiselessly down with his seven canoes upon the single one of the white man, and before the guns of the latter could inflict much damage upon his people he would have overwhelmed the enemy by force of numbers.
The Beasts of Tarzan
Tarzan and Abdul were rushed back toward the end of the room by the very force of numbers opposing them.
The Return of Tarzan
Some of the crowd were armed, and from very force of numbers were waxing brave to lay violent hands upon the party.
The Outlaw of Torn
While some brought all their energies to bear upon this toilsome task; and some, rearing ladders against the prison, tried to clamber to the summit of the walls they were too short to scale; and some again engaged a body of police a hundred strong, and beat them back and trod them under foot by force of numbers; others besieged the house on which the jailer had appeared, and driving in the door, brought out his furniture, and piled it up against the prison-gate, to make a bonfire which should burn it down.
Barnaby Rudge A Tale Of The Riots Of Eighty
If by the mere force of numbers a majority should deprive a minority of any clearly written Constitutional right, it might, in a moral point of view, justify revolution--certainly would if such a right were a vital one.
Abraham Lincolns First Inaugural Address
"If re-elected, I will lead a government that seeks to win votes not simply by force of numbers but by the strength of our arguments and the support we are able to build for our policies.
Sturgeon: I'll change Scotland for the better
It is not enough that by sheer force of numbers this generation has kept America's politics and popular culture boomer-centric for decades.
Boomer or bust: reflections of a generational refugee
The army of healthy households with HSAs covered by an employer could by sheer force of numbers drive the employer's total health-benefit costs far more than is commonly appreciated.
Being in charge: health savings accounts are making consumers responsible for what they spend on medical care
It is not the force of violence,or military might,but the sheer force of numbers and economic power.''
Cymuned makes UN case