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• fifteen
  fifteen

  noun

  a cardinal number, ten plus five.
• Fifteen
  Fifteen

  noun

  history the Jacobite rising of 1715

fifteen

American  

[fif-teen] / ˈfɪfˈtin /

noun

• fifteens
  plural

1. a cardinal number, ten plus five.

2. a symbol for this number, as 15 or XV.

3. a set of this many persons or things.

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adjective

1. amounting to 15 in number.

fifteen ¹ British  

/ ˈfɪfˈtiːn /

noun

1. the cardinal number that is the sum of ten and five

2. a numeral, 15, XV, etc, representing this number

3. something represented by, representing, or consisting of 15 units

4. a rugby union football team

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determiner

1. 1. amounting to fifteen

      fifteen jokes

   2. ( as pronoun )

      fifteen of us danced

Fifteen ² British  

/ ˈfɪfˈtiːn /

noun

1. history the Jacobite rising of 1715

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Usage

Spelling tips for fifteen The word fifteen is hard to spell because it doesn’t simply combine the spelling of the base number, five, with the suffix -teen, as is done in other easy-to-remember spellings like fourteen and sixteen.  How to spell fifteen: When five is combined with suffixes, the ve is turned into an f: fifteen (not fiveteen), fifty (not fivety), and fifth (not fiveth). Remember: there’s no v in fifteen.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• fifteens
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of fifteen

before 900; Middle English, Old English fiftene. See five, -teen

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

fifteen Fifteen fifteens

Across the globe, bond yields are setting new highs with 10-year benchmarks at their steepest for thirty years in Japan, fifteen years for Germany and 18 years in the U.K.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 1, 2026

It bears heavy signs of use and was made by Fuhrer Frères of Gstaad, the same Swiss firm that supplied fifteen axes to the 1924 Everest expedition.

From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2026

"For a medium-sized company, that means an additional two million euros in charges per year over fifteen years," Theuringer said.

From Barron's ● Jul. 2, 2026

“How to save the world in fifteen easy steps,” read one headline the day it was published.

From Salon ● Jun. 26, 2026

“I talked to my husband fifteen minutes ago. He said that Emily is going to hit south of here around midnight.”

From "Storm Runners" by Roland Smith

Fifteen minutes before: Put out the remaining garnishes, dressed salads and dessert.

From Salon ● Oct. 20, 2026

Fifteen critically endangered frogs have hatched at London Zoo, which says it marks the first time the species has been bred in captivity.

From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2026

Fifteen consecutive seasons of .500 or better ball, y’all!

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026

Fifteen months later, a magistrate judge denied Stilwell’s motion, saying he needed to serve the same notice to other anonymous co-conspirators who may have been part of the scam.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026

Fifteen minutes later, he showed up at my front door.

From "Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe" by Benjamin Alire Saenz

As she switched into fifteens from sevens, her lack of power and confidence in contact was exposed.

From BBC ● Apr. 15, 2026

When he threw parties for his three daughters—sweet fifteens, then engagements—social columnists came to write about the movers and shakers in attendance.

From Slate ● Jul. 14, 2016

The rise of sevens can have a knock-on effect, particularly in China where funding for fifteens has suffered.

From The Guardian ● Mar. 22, 2013

Average lease length is seven years, but there are a lot of fives and fifteens.

From New York Times ● Oct. 2, 2012

Lina was a couple of years older than Elsa, Lourdes, Sinita, and me; but her last year at Inmaculada, we were all in the same dormitory hall of the fifteens through seventeens.

From "In the Time of the Butterflies" by Julia Alvarez

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