thirteen

American  

[thur-teen] / ˈθɜrˈtin /

noun

• thirteens
  plural

1. a cardinal number, 10 plus 3.

2. a symbol for this number, as 13 or XIII.

3. a set of this many persons or things.

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adjective

1. amounting to 13 in number.

thirteen British  

/ ˈθɜːˈtiːn /

noun

1. the cardinal number that is the sum of ten and three and is a prime number See also number

2. a numeral, 13, XIII, etc, representing this number

3. the amount or quantity that is three more than ten; baker's dozen

4. something represented by, representing, or consisting of 13 units

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determiner

1. 1. amounting to thirteen

      thirteen buses

   2. ( as pronoun )

      thirteen of them fell

Usage

Spelling tips for 13 The word thirteen (13) is hard to spell because it doesn’t simply combine the spelling of the base number (three) with the suffix -teen, as is done in other easy-to-remember spellings like fourteen and sixteen.  How to spell thirteen: When three is combined with suffixes, it transforms from three (a cardinal number) to third (an ordinal number). Then, the d is dropped: thirteen (not thirdteen); thirty (not thirdty). Remember: there's no d in thirteen.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• thirteens
  plural

Etymology

Origin of thirteen

before 900; late Middle English thirttene, variant of Middle English thrittene, Old English thrēotēne; cognate with Dutch dertien, German dreizehn, Old Norse threttān. See three, -teen

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

thirteen thirteens

“He had been president only thirteen days—and now he faced the prospect that to end the war and save American lives, he might have to obliterate Japan’s cities,” Mr. Scott writes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026

E-commerce platform Pattern Group is up ten of the last thirteen weeks, with a 19% gain on May 7 earnings, and shows a bullish golden cross.

From Barron's ● May 26, 2026

Nevada also joined the group this week, bringing the total number of members to thirteen.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 5, 2025

We just got new numbers, and it’s down to one in thirteen, an all-time low.

From Salon ● Mar. 26, 2025

Comprehensive study has revealed that the Mary Rose’s crew was all male and that more than 80 percent of the crew was under thirty years of age, some between eleven and thirteen years old.

From "Shipwrecked!" by Martin W. Sandler

Six seeds are 86-50 against the elevens, fives are 89-47 against twelves, and once you get to fours vs. thirteens, you're in never gonna happen territory.

From Golf Digest ● Mar. 18, 2019

I do not know, he adds, what the occult almanac makers predict, but out of curiosity I have looked back at some other thirteens.

From The Guardian ● Jan. 1, 2013

Now, here's a warrant; gallants, please to mark, For three thirteens, and sixpence to the clerk.

From The Poems of Jonathan Swift, D.D., Volume 1 by William Ernst Browning

Here, you bitter old randle-tree, there are three thirteens for you; and if you will go down to the kitchen with the cook, he will give you a regular skinful.'

From Willy Reilly The Works of William Carleton, Volume One by William Carleton

"There's five thirteens for you, and I wish to God, my good fellow, that you would allow yourself to be put in better feathers."

From Willy Reilly The Works of William Carleton, Volume One by William Carleton