five-by-five

[ fahyv-bahy-fahyv ]

adjectiveSlang: Facetious.
  1. short and fat.

Origin of five-by-five

1
First recorded in 1925–30

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use five-by-five in a sentence

  • He walked over to the nearby table and opened a box some twelve inches long and five-by-five inches in cross section.

    Anything You Can Do | Gordon Randall Garrett
  • He walked over to the nearby table and opened a box some twelve inches long and five-by-five inches in cross-section.

    Anything You Can Do ... | Gordon Randall Garrett

British Dictionary definitions for five by five

five by five

interjection
  1. an expression used in telecommunications to state that a signal is being received clearly

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012