five

American  

[fahyv] / faɪv /

noun

fives plural

1. a cardinal number, four plus one.

2. a symbol for this number, as 5 or V.

3. a set of this many persons or things.

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

5. Informal. a five-dollar bill.

   Can you give me two fives for a ten?

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adjective

1. amounting to five in number.

idioms

1. take five, to take a brief respite.

five British  

/ faɪv /

noun

1. the cardinal number that is the sum of four and one

2. a numeral, 5, V, etc, representing this number

3. the amount or quantity that is one greater than four

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

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determiner

1. 1. amounting to five

      five minutes

      five nights

   2. ( as pronoun )

      choose any five you like

five More Idioms  

1. see take five.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• fives
  plural

Etymology

Origin of five

before 1000; 1925–30 five for def. 7; Middle English; Old English fīf; cognate with Dutch vijf, German fünf, Old Norse fimm, Gothic fimf, Latin quīnque, Greek pénte, Sanskrit pancha

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

five fives

His father, Josh Bard, spent 10 seasons in the major leagues with five teams and is now the Dodgers’ bullpen coach.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026

Murrell was jailed for five years and three months in June.

From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026

Because commissions are small—often three to five members—a well-timed pair of firings can leave a group without the number of members it needs to act.

From Slate ● Jul. 13, 2026

Of the 29 analysts who cover Sandisk, 23 are bullish and five are neutral, while only one is bearish.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 13, 2026

“No. The tickets are five dollars,” James said.

From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu

He profited from the two front-nine par fives to pick up three birdies by the turn and lead by one.

From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2026

In general, mobile homes are two to fives times more vulnerable in an earthquake than wood-frame houses, according to earthquake experts in California.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 4, 2026

Manny Farber said that when he was about 4 years old, his father demonstrated to him how a computer worked by writing a computer program on the fly that could count to 100 by fives.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 6, 2026

I plan to use my unit mostly for high fives, and ask only for an AI Mel Blanc voice option that recalls Twiki from the old Buck Rogers in the 25th Century series.

From Barron's ● Oct. 31, 2025

Seventh grader Kayla Knight slaps high fives with her friends.

From "Like Vanessa" by Tami Charles