nine
a cardinal number, eight plus one.
a symbol for this number, as 9 or IX.
a set of this many persons or things.
a baseball team.
a playing card with nine pips.
the Nine, the Muses.
amounting to nine in number.
Idioms about nine
dressed to the nines, looking one's best; dressed smartly, splendidly, etc.: All the girls were dressed to the nines for the party.
Origin of nine
1Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use nine in a sentence
Like the other speakers, Adams recalled a dedicated friend, and one who was always dressed to the nines.
All went lame; all blind; Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind.
Jake Gyllenhaal and More Actors Stand Up for Vet Awareness | Alyse Walsh | May 9, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTBy 5:30 p.m., the band members emerge—dressed to the nines—and assume their position.
It is up to the viewer to respond to who they are and, perhaps, to imagine why they are dressed to the nines.
He was clean-shaven, sweet-smelling, and dressed to the nines.
Dress ourselves up to the nines, an' put on paint an' powder, an' send off to the stores to hire clo'es an' wigs?
Country Neighbors | Alice BrownIt is but three nines or three knaves, or a mixture of them.
Jane Austen, Her Life and Letters | William Austen-Leigh and Richard Arthur Austen-Leigh“Dig out three replacement switches—heavy-duty six-double-oh-B-nines,” said Multhaus.
Unwise Child | Gordon Randall GarrettHonest Jack Pearce, one of the few good seamen we had aboard, was rubbing down one of the nines beside me.
Richard Carvel, Complete | Winston ChurchillHodge dropped his nines, which he had not bettered, and that left Merriwell and Snell to fight it out.
Frank Merriwell's Chums | Burt L. Standish
British Dictionary definitions for nine
/ (naɪn) /
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and eight: See also number (def. 1)
a numeral, 9, IX, etc, representing this number
something representing, represented by, or consisting of nine units, such as a playing card with nine symbols on it
Also: nine o'clock nine hours after noon or midnight: the play starts at nine
dressed to the nines or dressed up to the nines informal elaborately dressed
999 (in Britain) the telephone number of the emergency services
nine to five normal office hours: he works nine to five; a nine-to-five job
amounting to nine: nine days
(as pronoun): nine of the ten are ready
Origin of nine
1Other words from nine
- Related prefix: nona-
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
Other Idioms and Phrases with nine
see dressed to kill (to the nines); on cloud nine; possession is nine points of the law; whole nine yards.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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