eighty-six

or 86

[ ey-tee-siks ]

noun

1. a cardinal number, 80 plus 6.
2. a symbol for this number, as 86 or LXXXVI.
3. a set of this many persons or things.
4. Slang. a customer considered undesirable or unwelcome and refused service at a bar or restaurant.

adjective

1. amounting to 86 in number.
2. Slang. sold out; out of stock.

verb (used with object)

, Slang.

1. to refuse to serve (an undesirable or unwelcome customer) at a bar or restaurant.
2. to reject; discard.

Word History and Origins

Origin of eighty-six¹

First recorded in 1930–35, as slang term in bars and restaurants; sense “refuse” perhaps as rhyming slang for nix ¹

Example Sentences

“One hundred and eighty-six. That’s even more orbs than you had before.”

From Literature

Between eighty-six and ninety-four steps to the corner where the crossing guard, Ms. Post, stands.

From Literature

The hedge fund that had bought the company had already tried to eighty-six Freds’ rosy sautéed chicken livers over sourdough toast, proving once again that money can’t buy taste.

From New York Times

That totaled eighty-six cents, for lunch and dinner.

From Literature

"Car number four cost eighty-six pounds—a real wreck that was—and sold for six hundred and ninety-nine pounds fifty."

From Literature