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definitions

fives

[fahyvz]
|

noun (used with a singular verb) British.

a game resembling handball, played on a court having a front wall and two side walls.

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RELATED WORDS

quintuple, cinquefoil, pentangle, pentagram, lustrum, cinque, quinquennium, pentacle, quintuplet, pentagon, limerick, pentad, pentamerous, quinary, quinate, quinquennial, quincunx, quintuplicate

Nearby words

  1. five-year plan,
  2. fivefold,
  3. fivepenny,
  4. fivepins,
  5. fiver,
  6. fix,
  7. fix someone's wagon,
  8. fix up,
  9. fix-it,
  10. fix-up

Origin of fives

First recorded in 1630–40; five + -s3

five

[fahyv]

noun

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?

adjective

amounting to five in number.

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. 2019

Examples from the Web for fives

British Dictionary definitions for fives

fives

noun

(functioning as singular) a ball game similar to squash but played with bats or the hands

five

noun

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

determiner

  1. amounting to fivefive minutes; five nights
  2. (as pronoun)choose any five you like Related prefixes: penta-, quinque-
See also fives

Word Origin for five

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 Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Idioms and Phrases with fives

five

see take five.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.