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• six
  six

  noun

  a cardinal number, five plus one.
• Six
  Six

  noun

  a group of six young composers in France, who from about 1916 formed a temporary association as a result of interest in neoclassicism and in the music of Satie and the poetry of Cocteau. Its members were Darius Milhaud, Arthur Honegger, Francis Poulenc, Georges Auric, Louis Durey, and Germaine Tailleferre

six

American  

[siks] / sɪks /

noun

• sixes
  plural

1. a cardinal number, five plus one.

2. a symbol for this number, as 6 or VI.

3. a set of this many persons or things.

4. a playing card, die face, or half of a domino face with six pips.

5. Cricket. a hit in which the ball crosses the boundary line of the field without a bounce, counting six runs for the batsman.

6. an automobile powered by a six-cylinder engine.

7. a six-cylinder engine.

8. Slang.

   1. the area directly behind a person; back.

      Check your six—there's a hottie approaching.

   2. the area directly behind a person in motion; tail.

      The pilot had an enemy plane on his six.

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adjective

1. amounting to six in number.

idioms

1. get / have someone’s six, back.

2. at sixes and sevens,

   1. in disorder or confusion.

   2. in disagreement or dispute.

3. watch one’s six, back.

six ¹ British  

/ sɪks /

noun

1. the cardinal number that is the sum of five and one See also number

2. a numeral, 6, VI, etc, representing this number

3. something representing, represented by, or consisting of six units, such as a playing card with six symbols on it

4. Also called: six o'clock.  six hours after noon or midnight

5. Also called: sixer.  cricket

   1. a stroke in which the ball crosses the boundary without bouncing

   2. the six runs scored for such a stroke

6. a division of a Brownie Guide or Cub Scout pack

7. 1. in disagreement

   2. in a state of confusion

8. informal to upset or overwhelm someone completely; stun

9. a situation in which the alternatives are considered equivalent

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determiner

1. 1. amounting to six

      six nations

   2. ( as pronoun )

      set the table for six

Six ² British  

/ sis /

noun

1. a group of six young composers in France, who from about 1916 formed a temporary association as a result of interest in neoclassicism and in the music of Satie and the poetry of Cocteau. Its members were Darius Milhaud, Arthur Honegger, Francis Poulenc, Georges Auric, Louis Durey, and Germaine Tailleferre

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six More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing six

• Joe six-pack
• at sixes and sevens
• deep six

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• sixes
  plural

Etymology

Origin of six

First recorded before 900; Middle English six, sex, Old English siex, syx, seox, sex; cognate with Dutch zes, Low German ses, German sechs, Old Norse sex, Gothic saihs, Latin sex, Greek héx Sanskrit ṣaṭ-

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

six Six sixes

The California Department of Public Health also says people age 65 and up, and those who are immunocompromised, should get a second COVID-19 vaccination six months after their first dose.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026

You get six letters that you must turn into as many words of four letters or more as you can; as you create words, you’ll uncover fun little asides and notes.

From Slate ● Aug. 14, 2026

Rybakina led 2-1 in the second set before Swiatek won five of the final six games to end the match as champion.

From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026

Since taking up the game six years ago, Sivanandan has emerged as one of the greatest prodigies chess has ever seen.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

Ten minutes later we are staring at a list of twenty-three names with addresses, seventeen in Baltimore and six in Washington.

From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse

Six minutes later, at 08:44, it crashed 30 miles southeast of the airport, near the town of Bishoftu.

From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026

And in May, federal prosecutors dropped a massive indictment against the Broadview Six, a group of Chicago protesters, after grand jury transcripts revealed shocking misconduct.

From Slate ● Aug. 13, 2026

Six immunizations — for hepatitis A and B, rotavirus, meningococcal disease, flu and COVID-19 — are knocked down from “recommended” to “shared clinical decision-making.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026

Six ad campaigns that couldn’t have happened without AI.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026

Eurhythmics for young children: Six lessons for fall.

From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin

The 35-year-old finished with 51 from 20 balls, ending the match with back-to-back sixes down the ground off Lockie Ferguson.

From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026

He played in a typically positive fashion, striking at 97.85 as he plundered 11 fours and two sixes before falling for 91, just short of a second ODI ton.

From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026

Weatherley then holed-out after a 53-ball stay which yielded nine fours and two sixes and Baker followed him straight after to start the Steelbacks celebrations.

From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026

It’s claimed that the six sixes ball sold at auction was the wrong one.

From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026

He liked eights best, but he’d settle for fours, sixes, twelves, sixteens, any even number, really.

From "The Reader" by Traci Chee