sixty-eight: meaning, definition, pronunciation and examples
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Quick answer
What does “sixty-eight” mean?
The cardinal number that is equivalent to the product of six and ten, plus eight.
Audio
Pronunciation
Definition
Meaning and Definition
The cardinal number that is equivalent to the product of six and ten, plus eight.
Used to denote the quantity 68; also commonly refers to a person's age of 68 years, a year in a century (e.g., 1968), or as an identifier (e.g., a bus route, a model number).
Dialectal Variation
British vs American Usage
Differences
No significant lexical or grammatical differences. Potential minor variations in intonation patterns when dictating numbers.
Connotations
None specific to either variety.
Frequency
Equally frequent in all dialects.
Grammar
How to Use “sixty-eight” in a Sentence
[BE] + sixty-eight + (years old)[NUMBER] + hundred and sixty-eightsixty-eight + [PLURAL NOUN]Vocabulary
Collocations
Examples
Examples of “sixty-eight” in a Sentence
verb
British English
- (Rare/Non-standard) They managed to sixty-eight the competition score in the final round.
- (Humorous) I told him to sixty-eight his efforts, meaning to multiply them.
American English
- (Rare/Non-standard) He tried to sixty-eight the recipe, making 68 servings.
- (Jargon) The system will sixty-eight the input, a code for a specific process.
adverb
British English
- (Extremely rare/poetic) The bells chimed sixty-eight, marking the hour.
- (Non-standard) He ranked sixty-eight in the list.
American English
- (Extremely rare/poetic) The score was settled sixty-eight, a final tally.
- (Non-standard) Count the items sixty-eight, then stop.
adjective
British English
- She bought a sixty-eight-piece jigsaw puzzle.
- He drives a sixty-eight-mile commute daily.
American English
- She lives in a sixty-eight-story building.
- It's a sixty-eight-hour work week.
Usage
Meaning in Context
Business
"The proposal passed with a sixty-eight percent majority."
Academic
"The sample size was sixty-eight participants."
Everyday
"My grandmother is sixty-eight."
Technical
"Set the parameter to a value of sixty-eight."
Vocabulary
Synonyms of “sixty-eight”
Vocabulary
Antonyms of “sixty-eight”
Watch out
Common Mistakes When Using “sixty-eight”
- Writing as 'sixty eight' (without hyphen) when used as a compound adjective before a noun (e.g., 'sixty eight-page document' is incorrect).
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, when used as a compound adjective before a noun (e.g., a sixty-eight-year-old woman). When used as a simple number, it can be written as 'sixty-eight' or 'sixty eight', though the hyphenated form is common.
It is pronounced 'nineteen sixty-eight'. The decade ('sixty') and unit ('eight') are said separately.
Yes, '68' or '1968' often refers to a year of significant global social and political protests, most notably the May 1968 events in France and protests elsewhere.
The ordinal form is 'sixty-eighth' (68th).
The cardinal number that is equivalent to the product of six and ten, plus eight.
Sixty-eight is usually neutral in register.
Phrases
Idioms & Phrases
- “sixty-eight and never been late (humorous, informal, for age)”
- “the sixty-eight (can refer to the year 1968, especially in historical/political contexts)”
Learning
Memory Aids
Mnemonic
Think of 'SIXTY' minutes plus a figure 'EIGHT' – it's the number you get if you wait sixty minutes and then add eight more.
Conceptual Metaphor
A NUMBER IS A LOCATION ON A PATH (e.g., 'just past sixty, on the way to seventy').
Practice
Quiz
In which sentence is 'sixty-eight' used CORRECTLY as a compound adjective?