.45
noun
a pistol, revolver, or cartridge of .45-caliber, or having a diameter of .45 inch.
.45
1 Americannoun
-
.45s,
plural
-
.45's
plural
45
2
American
[fawr-tee fahyv]
/ ˈfɔr ti ˈfaɪv /
noun
-
45s,
plural
-
45's
plural
-
a seven-inch phonograph record played at 45 r.p.m., especially a popular-music single.
She’s in the market for a phonograph so she can play her grandfather’s mint collection of 45s from the 1960s.
-
an identifier of or nickname for Donald Trump, the 45th U.S. president, alternately used with disparaging intent by opponents and with affection by supporters.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of 45
First recorded in 1945–50
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Spivey's .45 caliber, like most firearms, ejects casingsbehind and to the right.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 21, 2025
Hours later he would come ashore with a .45 pistol, pencils, and a sketchbook.
From Slate ● Jun. 6, 2025
The 66-year-old actor was practising firing a Colt .45 pistol before filming a scene for Rust, a forthcoming Western filmed near Santa Fe, New Mexico, in October 2021.
From BBC ● Apr. 9, 2024
Other children don’t find “$50,000 in Krugerrands and a .45 automatic when they’re hunting for Easter eggs.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 7, 2024
With his long raincoat with the popped-up collar and the .45 in his wide leather belt, he looked like an old-timey gunslinger.
From "The Marrow Thieves" by Cherie Dimaline
A video of Klena and Bell’s performance has been viewed more than 45 million times on Instagram alone.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 27, 2026
About 23% of its residents are over the age of 45 and 20% are over age 65.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 27, 2026
Now the target is to release them within 45 minutes.
From BBC ● Oct. 25, 2026
In fact, Hitler Mussolini, 45, stood for the left-wing Ahora Nacion party in Queropalca in the mountainous Huanuco region.
From Barron's ● Oct. 23, 2026
I'm still toward the top of the Ramp, but the whole thing is only 45 kilometers.
From "The Martian" by Andy Weir
The Astros, born as the Houston Colt .45’s in 1962, have won none and have only played in one, losing to the Chicago White Sox in 2005.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 13, 2017
Never been worse, not even when they were the Colt .45's.
From Newsweek ● May 29, 2010
Gents, I've too much reespect for them good old faithful .45's of mine to play it as low down on 'em as all that.'
From Faro Nell and Her Friends Wolfville Stories by W. Herbert Dunton
Notwithstanding the grim assertiveness of belts full of .45's and the peeping handles of long-barreled Colts, set off with picturesque chaps, sombreros and tinkling spurs, the scene was one of peaceful content and good-fellowship.
From Hopalong Cassidy's Rustler Round-Up by Clarence Edward Mulford
Before the 1962 season, Cárdenas moved on to serve as the lead play-by-play announcer for Houston’s new team, then known as the Colt .45s.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 11, 2026
And this neat piece of history — the Phillies were the first team to ever beat Houston, back in 1962 when the expansion Colt .45s lost at Connie Mack Stadium.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 23, 2022
Instead he enrolled at Oakland City College, now a university, where he played baseball before signing with an expansion team, the Houston Colt .45s, in 1962.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 12, 2020
Colorado beat the Cincinnati Reds 9-2, surpassing the 64 wins by the Houston Colt .45s in 1962.
From Washington Times ● Sep. 17, 2020
Next Joe Mondragon himself came in asking for two boxes of .30-30s and one box each of .45s,
From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols
The world number 45's run to his first Grand Slam final saw him fined for several outbursts on court.
From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2022
Agodon, who is a poet and a professor at Pacific Lutheran University, later published a piece titled “Getting an IUD on the Day of 45’s Inauguration.”
From Washington Post ● Feb. 10, 2022
"Our children deserve better. They really do," the teacher told FOX 45's investigative team, Project Baltimore, on the condition of anonymity.
From Fox News ● Feb. 3, 2022
“In my off hours,” he said, “I would create the music tapes for all our fraternity parties from the 45’s that came in to the radio station.”
From New York Times ● Oct. 5, 2021
The prospector stood forward, at the same time producing from an open holster blackened by time one of the long-barrelled single-action Colt's 45's, so universally in use on the frontier.
From The Rules of the Game by Stewart Edward White
In the 1980s, jukeboxes with 45s gave way to CD jukeboxes, then a generation later, to streaming ones.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 14, 2026
Age categories for over 45s, 50s, 55s, 60s, 65s and 70s for both men and women, saw thousands of players take part.
From BBC ● Nov. 24, 2024
Anchored by the pleading falsetto of Joseph Quinones, who also acts as songwriter and keyboardist, the debut is filled with the sort of tracks that could convincingly pass for soul 45s from 1966.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 22, 2024
After the heart of downtown is aglow, The Dusty 45s will rock the park with a live musical performance.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 24, 2022
Robin was actually cordial, inviting me to her room to sit on the floor and thumb through her 45s and set aside the ones I wanted to listen to.
From "It All Comes Down to This" by Karen English
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