by the thousands

In huge quantities, presumably numbering several thousand. When the potato famine hit Ireland, the Irish began emigrating—especially to America—by the thousands.

Common Names:

Name	Pronounced	Usage
Giambattista	jahm-baht-TEE-stah	Italian
Kapel	-	Yiddish
Floortje	FLO:R-tyə	Dutch
Yosyp	-	Ukrainian
Sixte	-	French
Milena	mee-LE-nah (Italian)	Bulgarian, Czech, Serbian, Croatian, Slovene, Macedonian, Polish, Russian, Italian