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

If so, it’d be quite the capper to a career that has netted him seven Oscar nominations, five for his screenplays and two for direction.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026

A police officer told AFP that police fired shots into the air to disperse a crowd in Bara, a town in the province's western Khyber district, and five people were detained as dozens protested there.

From Barron's ● Oct. 12, 2026

“Or we can see if there’s anything we can save in the next four to five years to reduce our expenses, be a little more modest in spending. That could magnify quite a bit.”

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 12, 2026

Zubimendi has also largely featured as a substitute, making five Premier League appearances from the bench.

From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2026

“By five o’clock. Guests are supposed to start arriving by five o’clock, so I am, kind of, in a hurry.”

From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith

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

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

Young gave high fives to fans as he left toward the locker room.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 3, 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

They gave each other high fives and resumed their game.

From "A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier" by Ishmael Beah