sixty

American  

[siks-tee] / ˈsɪks ti /

noun

plural

sixties

1. a cardinal number, ten times six.

2. a symbol for this number, as 60 or LX.

3. a set of this many persons or things.

4. sixties, the numbers, years, degrees, or the like, from 60 through 69, as in referring to numbered streets, indicating the years of a lifetime or of a century, or noting degrees of temperature.

   Her grandfather is in his late sixties. The temperature is in the low sixties.

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adjective

1. amounting to 60 in number.

idioms

1. like sixty, with great speed, ease, energy, or zest.

   Everyone was working like sixty to finish up before the holidays.

sixty British  

/ ˈsɪkstɪ /

noun

1. the cardinal number that is the product of ten and six See also number

2. a numeral, 60, LX, etc, representing sixty

3. something represented by, representing, or consisting of 60 units

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determiner

1. 1. amounting to sixty

      sixty soldiers

   2. ( as pronoun )

      sixty are dead

Etymology

Origin of sixty

before 900; Middle English (adj. and noun), Old English sixtig (adj.); cognate with Dutch zestig, German sechzig, Old Norse sextigir. See six, -ty ¹

Example Sentences

The relevant piece of US law, the decades-old War Powers Resolution, makes certain requirements of a president "within sixty calendar days" of their use of US armed forces in combat.

From BBC • May 1, 2026

The move, effective in sixty days, would bar the centers from billing Medicaid.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 25, 2026

"For over sixty years, Bobby took to the road," the statement said.

From Barron's • Jan. 11, 2026

To travel from Los Angeles to Sydney in sixty minutes, an aircraft would need to reach Mach 10.

From Science Daily • Nov. 14, 2025

After all, Sadi Carnot finally produced a satisfactory theory of the steam engine only in 1824, more than a hundred years after Newcomen’s first engine, and sixty years after Watt’s.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton