An amount much larger than N but Smaller than infinity. "I have 2-to-the-N thingS to do before I can go out for lunch" meanS you probably won' t Show up. NumberS of the form two-to-the-N are very important in computing becauSe they repreSent the value of bit N of a binary number (counting from 0) and the number of thingS you can count with an N bit number. [Jargon File] (1994-12-06)