sixty

[ siks-tee ]

noun

, plural six·ties.

1. a cardinal number, ten times six.
2. a symbol for this number, as 60 or LX.
3. a set of this many persons or things.
4. sixties, the numbers, years, degrees, or the like, from 60 through 69, as in referring to numbered streets, indicating the years of a lifetime or of a century, or noting degrees of temperature:

   Her grandfather is in his late sixties. The temperature is in the low sixties.

adjective

1. amounting to 60 in number.

sixty

/ ˈsɪkstɪ /

noun

1. the cardinal number that is the product of ten and six See also number
2. a numeral, 60, LX, etc, representing sixty
3. something represented by, representing, or consisting of 60 units

determiner

1. 1. amounting to sixty

      sixty soldiers

   2. ( as pronoun )

      sixty are dead

Word History and Origins

Origin of sixty¹

before 900; Middle English (adj. and noun), Old English sixtig (adj.); cognate with Dutch zestig, German sechzig, Old Norse sextigir. See six, -ty ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of sixty¹

Old English sixtig

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. like sixty, Informal. with great speed, ease, energy, or zest:

   Everyone was working like sixty to finish up before the holidays.

Example Sentences

Sixty percent of the club’s members rejected the initiative, but tens of thousands of members voted for it, demonstrating the reach of Tanton’s worldview.

From Salon

For us, America has only been a democracy for sixty years.

From Salon

Sixty percent would go toward comprehensive homelessness services, essentially replacing the existing revenue from Measure H. Some of that would be eaten up by increases in the reimbursement rate for interim housing proposed to go into effect next year.

From Los Angeles Times

Sixty people had called a hotline that offered to give people a free ride to the polls to vote early.

From Salon

He just told an audience in Arizona Thursday night that "if Ronald Reagan came back from the dead at the height of Ronald Reagan, if he went to California to have a rally, he'd have 250–300 people in a ballroom. We have fifty, sixty, seventy, eighty, a hundred thousand people."

From Salon