eighty-six
Americannoun
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a cardinal number, 80 plus 6.
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a symbol for this number, as 86 or LXXXVI.
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a set of this many persons or things.
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Slang. a customer considered undesirable or unwelcome and refused service at a bar or restaurant.
adjective
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amounting to 86 in number.
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Slang. sold out; out of stock.
verb (used with object)
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to refuse to serve (an undesirable or unwelcome customer) at a bar or restaurant.
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to reject; discard.
Etymology
Origin of eighty-six
First recorded in 1930–35, as slang term in bars and restaurants; sense “refuse” perhaps as rhyming slang for nix 1
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.
The hedge fund that had bought the company had already tried to eighty-six Freds’ rosy sautéed chicken livers over sourdough toast, proving once again that money can’t buy taste.
From New York Times ● Jul. 20, 2021
A practitioner still needs to be choosy, though: a recent investigation by the London Times revealed that eighty-six per cent of the rivers in England contained pollution levels exceeding current E.U. standards.
From The New Yorker ● Jan. 20, 2020
Doug, at eighty-six, is an example of a healthy man.
From Salon ● Sep. 15, 2019
To match the pace of land loss, the state would have to churn out a hundred and eighty-six acres every nine days.
From The New Yorker ● Mar. 25, 2019
“I can’t disregard! I just set up the GoFundMe. It’s got, like, eighty-six bucks in there already.”
From "A Heart in a Body in the World" by Deb Caletti
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
