uncountable or countless

[GeneD]

There are two more words I'm trying to analyse but not very successfully, to tell you the truth. Are "uncountable" and "countless" the same in meaning? Here are a few examples for "uncountable" (https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/uncountable):

• ‘Every student of the academy, and most people in the realm, knew that this area of mountains was teeming with an uncountable number of creatures.’
• ‘The unfamiliar aspects were the lack of boxes with ‘returned merchandise’ stickers and the uncountable number of times we were asked if we needed assistance.’
• ‘Because of this, mathematicians now refer to the infinite set of real numbers as uncountable.’
• ‘They had run to the edge of the world and back again, many enemies thus in pursuit, an uncountable number of thieves and competitors perpetually on the hunt.’

For "countless" (https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/countless):

• ‘With its countless bars and clubs, the area is the hub of the town's nightlife.’
• ‘Filled with countless tiny black seeds, it looks exactly like a seed pod should.’
• ‘As countless tales have told us, it's always a bad idea to mess around with the past.’
  
• ‘He is a veteran of countless marathons, and we are not talking about the ordinary London kind.’

Could you help me understand the difference between them if there is one?

 

[GeneD]

'uncountable' before... (singular) group nouns:

an uncountable number of people

Is it possible to say "an uncountable herd of cattle" or "an uncountable crowd of people"? Or does it work only with the word "number" ("an uncountable number of people")?

 

[GeneD]

I've googled "uncountable herds of bison" and found "uncountable herds [of bison] were reduced to the brink of extinction" (https://books.google.by/books?id=GT...v=onepage&q=uncountable herd of bison&f=false). But I couldn't find any other examples than that. Is it natural and common to use "uncountable" the way I asked in post #3?

 

[GeneD]

an uncountable herd

I shouldn't have been too precise while googling (I mean bison), should I?
Thanks for the answer. It was really enlightening.

 

[GeneD]

There is an example in the mentioned dictionary which I didn't notice at first despite its being right under the definition and which I find really interesting:
She'd spent uncountable nights in this very bed.

Is it an exception to the rule? Or is the meaning here not "countless" but "endless"?

 

[Tarheel]

It's another way of saying many.

 

[GeneD]

It's another way of saying many.

Then it's an exception to the rule mentioned by Piscean in post #2, right?

 

[Tarheel]

Then it's an exception to the rule mentioned by Piscean in post #2, right?

If you say so. In any case, the writer could have used "countless" instead of "uncountable" there.

(Don't expect me to remember all of Piscean's posts. I can't remember all of mine.)

 

[GeneD]

There is one more doubt (I hope the last ). Macmillan Dictionary doesn't give any definition for the word "uncountable" (only the phrase "uncountable noun" (https://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/uncountable-noun?q=uncountable). It makes me think that "uncountable" (putting aside "uncountable noun") isn't as common as "countless". Is it true? Do you often use "uncountable" provided you are not talking about grammar?

 

[Tarheel]

Gene D, I wouldn't bother to look up uncountable. It can, clearly, mean only one thing: a number too large to count.

 

[GeneD]

Gene D, I wouldn't bother to look up uncountable. It can, clearly, mean only one thing: a number too large to count.

I was looking for some examples with this word, not for the definition. Of course I knew it.

 

[Matthew Wai]

Examples are available at https://fraze.it/n_search.jsp?q=uncountable&l=0&t=0&ffo=false&findid=-1&ff=

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

There is an example in the mentioned dictionary which I didn't notice at first despite its being right under the definition and which I find really interesting:
She'd spent uncountable nights in this very bed.

Is it an exception to the rule? Or is the meaning here not "countless" but "endless"?

I'd just call it bad writing. The writer probably meant "countless."

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

There is an example in the mentioned dictionary which I didn't notice at first despite its being right under the definition and which I find really interesting:
She'd spent uncountable nights in this very bed.

Is it an exception to the rule? Or is the meaning here not "countless" but "endless"?

I'd just call it bad writing. The writer probably meant "countless."

"Countless" and "uncountable" aren't used the sam way.

 

[Tdol]

I rarely if ever use 'uncountable' in the sense of 'too much/many to count'.

I think it works predicatively:

The stars are uncountable.