Read rest of the answer. Besides, how many is a number of?
: more than two but fewer than many : several There are a number of different options to choose from.
Similarly, what does a number of people mean? Yes it means many. For example: "There are a number of people here today!" You don't know how many people there are because there are many people, thus there are 'a number of people'. Yes it means many.
One may also ask, are a number of or is a number of?
The expression the number is followed by a singular verb while the expression a number is followed by a plural verb. Examples: The number of people we need to hire is thirteen. A number of people have written in about this subject.
Are or are people?
People is a general plural noun, and takes "are". People is generally a plural noun, and so usually takes "are". But it also can be used in a singular sense. There are articles about this on the Internet, and I linked one below.
