forty-eight
Americannoun
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a cardinal number, 40 plus 8.
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a symbol for this number, such as 48 or XLVIII.
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a set of 48 persons or things.
Of the two parties that reserved a private room tonight, the forty-eight is the larger, so put them in the east dining room just off the lounge.
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Informal. the forty-eight, the conterminous United States.
Crossing the border into Alberta, Canada, was the first time he’d ventured beyond the forty-eight.
adjective
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
All this she related cheerfully between hops forty-eight and fifty-eight.
From Literature
Exactly forty-eight hours after the fires began, the clouds rolled in over Garner County.
From Literature
“He’s on a psychiatric hold for forty-eight hours. I don’t know anything else, but we can try to find out.”
From Literature
These diesel-electric subs could cruise underwater on battery power for up to forty-eight hours, but to recharge they needed to approach the surface, take in oxygen, and run their diesel engines.
From Literature
“This poor girl’s had an arduous forty-eight hours. The least we can do is let her catch her breath.”
From Literature
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
