seven

American  

[sev-uhn] / ˈsɛv ən /

noun

• sevens
  plural

1. a cardinal number, 6 plus 1.

2. a symbol for this number, as 7 or VII.

3. a set of this many persons or things.

4. a playing card with seven pips.

5. (used with a singular verb) sevens, fan-tan.

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adjective

1. amounting to seven in number.

verb phrase

1. seven out crap.

seven British  

/ ˈsɛvən /

noun

1. the cardinal number that is the sum of six and one and is a prime number See also number

2. a numeral, 7, VII, etc, representing this number

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

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

5. Also called: seven o'clock. seven hours after noon or midnight

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determiner

1. 1. amounting to seven

      seven swans a-swimming

   2. ( as pronoun )

      you've eaten seven already

seven Idioms  

1. see at sixes and sevens; in seventh heaven.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• sevens
  plural

Etymology

Origin of seven

before 900; Middle English seoven ( e ), seofne, seven, Old English seofon; cognate with German sieben, Gothic sibun; akin to Old Irish secht, Welsh saith, Latin septem, Greek heptá, Polish siedem, Sanskrit saptá

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

seven sevens

A sleeping giant must have experienced some element of former glory and Pro Vercelli are the obvious candidate there, winning seven Italian titles by 1922.

From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2026

Tuesday, when seven field teams were deployed to search an area “encompassing almost every aspect of Mt. Morgan, top to bottom,” the search team wrote in an online post.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026

El Nino, which occurs approximately every two to seven years, raises surface temperatures in the central and eastern Pacific Ocean and causes global changes in winds and rainfall.

From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note ticked up 0.011 percentage point to 5.243%, closing within seven basis points of a multidecade high.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026

But I had also promised Mama seven times while we drove to school that I would be polite.

From "Ida B" by Katherine Hannigan

Pollock is keen to explore the possibility of representing Great Britain in rugby sevens at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.

From BBC ● Sep. 22, 2026

The Carson Zone Pavilion is an open-air setting near the archery, track cycling, hockey, rugby sevens and tennis venues.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026

Pupil A gave evidence about the school team playing at the Rosslyn Park sevens tournament in London, 17-18 March 2024.

From BBC ● Apr. 21, 2026

Thierry Henry was equal parts elegant and clinical, effortlessly eating up turf, striding through defences like a sixth-former schooling year sevens, scoring worldies and va va vindicating his spot here.

From BBC ● Mar. 3, 2026

In Carlton everything was at sixes and sevens In preparation for the second campaign.

From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White