sixteen
Americannoun
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a cardinal number, ten plus six.
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a symbol for this number, as 16 or XVI.
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a set of this many persons or things.
adjective
noun
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the cardinal number that is the sum of ten and six See also number
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a numeral, 16, XVI, etc, representing this number
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music the numeral 16 used as the lower figure of a time signature to indicate that the beat is measured in semiquavers
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something represented by, representing, or consisting of 16 units
determiner
Etymology
Origin of sixteen
before 900; Middle English, Old English sixtēne; cognate with Dutch zestien, German sechzehn, Old Norse sextān. See six, -teen
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.
In his pamphlet, Heman specified their ages: “nineteen,” “about sixteen years,” “aged about thirteen years,” “A little girl ten years old.”
From Literature
I was still a boy when I left the Ozarks, only sixteen years old.
From Literature
Jonah thought about all those times she’d given him her hand to squeeze when he was a little kid getting shots or that time he had to have sixteen stitches in his knee.
From Literature
Chase sat in the back and watched the lights as sixteen cell phones flicked on.
From Literature
There were sixteen eyelets on each of his shoes, Bat counted.
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.
