Russian nouns with quantitative meaning (толпа, стадо, выводок - crowd, herd, brood etc.) are an important and very specific part of the lexical system of the Russian language. Despite the fact that the semantic and syntax properties of these words are very fully described in the scientific literature and dictionaries their metaphorical and connotative peculiarities remain insufficiently investigated. The article describes stylistic characteristics of phrases including numbered nouns as a basic component. The role of adjectives and the influence of animated nouns in the structure of these phrases are also noted.