forty-eight

[ fawr-tee-eyt ]

noun
  1. a cardinal number, 40 plus 8.

  2. a symbol for this number, such as 48 or XLVIII.

  1. 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.

  2. the forty-eight, Informal. the conterminous United States: Crossing the border into Alberta, Canada, was the first time he’d ventured beyond the forty-eight.

adjective
  1. amounting to 48 in number: So far, forty-eight students have registered for soccer.

Words Nearby forty-eight

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

How to use forty-eight in a sentence

  • Unless they are going to have an August push in France they might at least have lent us forty-eight 4.5 hows.

  • The man would not die if left where he was for another forty-eight hours, or even longer.

    The Red Year | Louis Tracy
  • Day by day English and Russian reinforcements poured into Holland, till at last they numbered forty-eight thousand.

    Napoleon's Marshals | R. P. Dunn-Pattison
  • Isidoro Midel is an interesting character, apparently about forty-eight years of age.

    The Philippine Islands | John Foreman
  • I laughed when I thought how there were nine of him working in twelve places at once—or was it twenty-four—or maybe forty-eight.

    Nine Men in Time | Noel Miller Loomis