fives
[fahyvz]
- a game resembling handball, played on a court having a front wall and two side walls.
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Origin of fives
five
[fahyv]
- a cardinal number, four plus one.
- a symbol for this number, as 5 or V.
- a set of this many persons or things.
- a playing card, die face, or half of a domino face with five pips.
- Informal. a five-dollar bill: Can you give me two fives for a ten?
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- amounting to five in number.
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- take five, Informal. to take a brief respite.
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Origin of five
before 1000; 1925–30 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
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for fives
Contemporary Examples
When an armored truck convoy stops, the patrol leader will give the command “fives and twenty-fives” over the radio.
This does not seem like a very natural packaging size; things usually come in fives and tens.
But more than once I was paid for my services with a handful of crinkled ones and fives.
More than once I was paid for my services with a handful of crinkled ones and fives.
Historical Examples
He used to be alive, you know—the Ockley who was keeper of the fives in my first half.
Echoes of the WarJ. M. Barrie
From it he drew a wad of bills, fives and tens, and made another wad.
The Paliser caseEdgar Saltus
Muriel was among the first two fives to be called to the floor.
Marjorie Dean, College SophomorePauline Lester
Just count these twos and fives for me, dear; fifteen of each there should be.
We TwoEdna Lyall
He had often read of their coming in groups of fives and sixes.
The Story of WoolSara Ware Bassett
fives
- (functioning as singular) a ball game similar to squash but played with bats or the hands
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five
- the cardinal number that is the sum of four and one
- a numeral, 5, V, etc, representing this number
- the amount or quantity that is one greater than four
- something representing, represented by, or consisting of five units, such as a playing card with five symbols on it
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- amounting to fivefive minutes; five nights
- (as pronoun)choose any five you like Related prefixes: penta-, quinque-
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See also fives
Word Origin
Old English fīf; related to Old Norse fimm, Gothic fimf, Old High German finf, Latin quinque, Greek pente, Sanskrit pañca
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for fives
five
n.
Old English fif, from Proto-Germanic *fimfe (cf. Old Frisian and Old Saxon fif, Dutch vijf, Old Norse fimm, Old High German funf, Gothic fimf), from PIE *penkwe- (cf. Sanskrit panca, Greek pente, Latin quinque, Old Church Slavonic peti, Lithuanian penke, Old Welsh pimp). The sound shift that removed the *-m- is a regular development involving Old English, Old Frisian, and Old Saxon (cf. thought, from stem of think; couth from *kunthaz; us from *uns.
Slang five-finger discount "theft" is from 1966. Five o'clock shadow attested by 1937. The original five-year plan was 1928 in the U.S.S.R.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Idioms and Phrases with fives
five
see take five.
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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.