grand prize?
"I won the ten million-dollar grand prize"

I think "Grand" means thousand! and "won the grand prize" means "got the top prize"

so then, Does it mean that I got a ten million dollar which is the top prize in the lottery? or got a billion dollar?

Question

grand prize?
"I won the ten million-dollar grand prize"

I think "Grand" means thousand! and "won the grand prize" means  "got the top prize"

so then, Does it mean that I got a ten million dollar which is the top prize in the lottery? or got a  billion dollar?

Answer

Hi James

You are right that 'grand' is slang for a thousand. And also that 'grand' (when it's not used as slang) can mean great/big/luxury/special or 'top'.

In this case it means 'top'. 'Grand' and 'prize' often go together a form a unit of meaning. You might have heard of 'Grand Prix', which is actually a French term but we use it in English, when people talk about Formula 1 races?

So in this case it's a 10 million dollar prize.

Hope this helps.

Chris

Don’t miss out on the opportunity to learn a language from the comfort of your own home. Browse our selection of experienced language tutors and enroll in your first lesson now!