| 释义 |
six, a. and n.|sɪks|
Forms: α. 1 siox-, siex, 1–5 syx, (1) 5–6 syxe; 1– six (4 zix), 3–7 sixe. β. 1–2 seox, 1–6 (Sc. 7–8) sex, 2–4 sexe, 5 cex(e. γ. Sc. 5– sax.
[Common Teut.: OE. sex, six, siex, syx, etc., = OFris. sex (WFris. sêchs, NFris. soks, etc.), MDu. ses(se, zes(se, zees (Du. zes), OS. sehs, ses (MLG. sês, ses, sos, LG. ses, sös, sos), OHG. and MHG. sehs (G. sechs), ON. (Icel., Norw., Sw., Da.) sex (MSw. säx, siäx, siax, etc., MDa. sæx, siæx), Goth. saihs. Cognate forms occur in all the Indo-European languages (as L. sex, Gr. ἕξ, etc.) and indicate an original *su̯eks.
In OE. used either without change of form (esp. when attributive) or with plural declension syxe, syxa, syxum.]
The cardinal number next after five, represented by the symbols 6, VI, or vi.
A. adj.
1. a. In concord with a n. expressed.
αc893K. ælfred Oros. ii. iv. 70 Siex mila from ðære byriᵹ. c901O.E. Chron. an. 901, Her ᵹefor ælfred..syx nihtum ær ealra haliᵹra mæssan. c1000Ags. Gosp. Matt. xvii. 1 æfter six daᵹum. c1124O.E. Chron. an. 1124, Tweᵹen sed-læpas to six scillingas. c1205Lay. 25979 Þa six swin he to-droh. c1300Havelok 2788 Sixe erles weren sone yare. 1340Ayenb. 21 Þis zenne him sseaweþ..ine zix maneres. c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) ix. 37 He had syx wyfes. c1500Melusine 117 The maister had..vytaylled & laden..six galeys. 1596Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, ii. iv. 199 Some sixe or seuen fresh men set vpon vs. 1662Stillingfl. Orig. Sacræ iii. iv. §2 The Creation of the world in the six daies work. 1762Ann. Reg. ii. 21 Henry Fielding was in stature rather rising above six feet. 1822Scott Nigel xiii, She..had probably completed her six lustres. 1847W. C. L. Martin The Ox 152/1 Six drachmas of Barbadoes aloes, six ounces of Epsom salts.
β835Charter in O.E. Texts 449 An swin oððe sex weðras. c975Rushw. Gosp. Mark ix. 2 æfter daᵹum sexum. Ibid. John ii. 6 Stænene fato sexo. a1122O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 852, He scolde ᵹife ilca ᵹear..sex foður ᵹearda. c1250Gen. & Ex. 739 Sex ȝer and fiftene mo, Adde Abram on is elde ðo. a1300Cursor M. 7387 His suns sex þat war at hame. c1340Hampole Pr. Consc. 2708 Of þir sex poyntes I wil spek and rede. c1400Apol. Loll. 90 As þe heþun men had sex kyndis of similacris,..so han lordis now sex kyndis of prelatis. c1440Promp. Parv. 67 Cexe, sex. 1559W. Cuningham Cosmogr. Glasse 65 By my computation your table sheweth sexe zones. 1572Wills & Inv. N.C. (Surtees 1835) 348 Sex stone of talow... Sex payre of lyne shets. 1627Rep. Parishes Scotl. (Bann. Club) 3 We walow it to be worth sex bollis ane husband land off rining wictuall. 1722in Scottish Jrnl. Topogr. (1848) II. 62/1 To sex bottles sack.
γ1489Barbour's Bruce i. 39 The land sax yer, and moyr perfay, Ley desolat after hys day. 1549Compl. Scotl. 107 Sax mulis chargit vitht gold. c1615Sir W. Mure (title), Sax Lynes wpon the Fall of Somersait. 1795Macneill Scotland's Skaith xli, Wi' firm intention To drink sax nights out o' seven. 1816Scott Old Mort. xlii, Ae night, sax weeks or thereby afore Bothwell Brig.
b. Followed by hundred or thousand, or the ordinals of these. Also six-sevenths, six (parts, etc.) out of seven.
c893K. ælfred Oros. i. vii. 38 Pharon hæfde syx hund wiᵹwæᵹna..: þæt wæs syx hund þusenda manna. a1122O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 657, æfter ure Drihtnes acennednesse seox hundred wintra. c1205Lay. 613 In þon castle he dude hende six hundred of his cnihten. a1300Cursor M. 2002 He had sex hundret yeir and an. c1440Promp. Parv. 67 Cex hundryd, sexcenti. 1549Compl. Scotl. 6 He beand bot sex thousand men. 1647Hexham i. (Numbers), The sixe hundreth, de ses hondertste. 1785Burns Death & Dr. Hornbook xiii, Sax thousand years are near hand fled. 1855Tennyson Charge Light Brigade, Into the valley of Death Rode the six hundred. 1899Allbutt's Syst. Med. V. 13 Six-sevenths of the cases occurred between the ages of 40 and 70.
c. Coupled with a higher cardinal or ordinal numeral following, so as to form a compound (cardinal or ordinal) numeral.
a900O.E. Martyrol. 26 Mar. 50 On þone syx & twenteᵹðan dæᵹ þæs monðes. c950Lindisf. Gosp. John ii. 20 Feortiᵹ & sex uintro ᵹetimbred uæs ðis tempel. 1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 233 Þre þousend & sixe & twenti þer [v.r. ȝer] was fram þe worldes biginninge. c1375Sc. Leg. Saints Prol. 96 Til I had mad þaim redy, in novmer sex & sexty. c1425Craft Nombrynge (E.E.T.S.) 6 As þou seyst by þe comyne speche, Sex & twenty & nouȝt twenty & sex. 1579Fulke Heskins' Parl. 223 The sixe and thirtieth Chapter treateth of the next text. 1605Shakes. Lear iii. vii. 16 Some fiue or six and thirty of his Knights. 1725De Foe Voy. round World (1840) 164 We sailed again the six-and-twentieth day after we came in. 1779Mirror No. 47 ⁋4 Tom is a young man of six-and-twenty. 1855Kingsley Westward Ho! x, Six-and-twenty years of travel.
d. In special applications. Six Acts, Six Articles (see quots.). Six Clerks (see Six Clerk); Six Counties, the Ulster counties of Antrim, Down, Armagh, Londonderry, Tyrone, and Fermanagh, which have since 1920 comprised the province of Northern Ireland; (cf. twenty-six counties s.v. twenty-six a.); Six Dynasties, a collective term for the Chinese dynasties of Ch'en, Eastern Chin, Liang, Liu-Sung, Southern Ch'i, and Wu, belonging to the period a.d. 220–589; freq. used attrib. to denote this period of history in China; Six Nations (see quots.); Six Preachers (in Canterbury Cathedral; hence the sing. Six Preacher).
1834Times 22 Apr. 5/6 Every man that dared to open his mouth against the Castlereagh and Sidmouth despotism must have set the *Six Acts at defiance. 1859Rosse Index of Dates, Six Acts, severely repressive measures, passed, 1819. 1862G. H. Townsend Man. of Dates, Six Acts,..six measures for the prevention of seditious meetings and the regulation of political publications.
1655Fuller Ch. Hist. v. 231 Death being the penalty of such who were made guilty by the *six Articles. 1862G. H. Townsend Man. of Dates, Six Articles, or Bloody Statute,..an act (31 Hen. VIII, c. 14) passed June 28, 1539... The six articles enforced were transubstantiation, communion of one kind, celibacy of the clergy, vows of chastity, private masses, and auricular confession.
1647Clarendon Hist. Reb. i. §112 Sir Julius Cæsar was then Master of the Rolls, and had..the indubitable right and disposition of the *Six-Clerks’ places. 1692Lond. Gaz. No. 2771/4 Lost..between St. Paul's Church-yard, and the Six Clerks-Office. 1728Chambers Cycl., Six Clerks, Officers in Chancery of great Account, next in Degree below the Twelve Masters. 1842Penny Cycl. XXII. 70/1 The office of Six Clerks is an office of great antiquity connected with the Court of Chancery, probably as ancient as the Court itself.
1921Notes from Ireland 40/1 The Unionists of the ‘*Six Counties’. 1922C. J. C. Street Ireland in 1921 ix. 226 The House of Commons contained only Unionist members, who were obviously deeply concerned at the position of affairs while anxious to say nothing which might compromise the position of the Six Counties. 1935Frontier Sentinel (Newry) 22 June 4/4 The Six-County Premier. 1949[see Englishize v.]. 1960J. Stroud Shorn Lamb iv. 49 Suppose..she turns out to be some one-eyed horror in the Six Counties looney-bin. 1974Irish Democrat Nov. 5/2 The significance of the six county election results has been widely debated.
1934K. S. Latourette Chinese I. iv. 155 The fall of the Eastern Chin..is usually said to mark the beginning of the era known to the Chinese as the..Southern and Northern Dynasties, which lasted until 589. Another classification—inclusive of a longer period—employed by Chinese historians is the *Six Dynasties, by which are meant the six kingdoms and dynasties between the downfall of the Han and the reunification of China in 589. 1966F. Schurmann Ideology & Organization in Communist China vii. 407 The most ambitious attempt of this sort occurred during the Six Dynasties Period (third to sixth century A.D.). This was a period of serious political and social breakdown. 1973T. R. Tregear Chinese i. 26 Monks from India..so impressed the barbarians of the Six Dynasties..that they adopted Buddhism. 1980E. Behr Getting Even v. 59 A huge ‘Six Dynasties’ celadon jar and a horseman of the Northern Wei period.
1710in J. W. Lydekker Faithful Mohawks (1938) ii. 28 And as a sure Token of the sincerity of the *six Nations, We do..present Our Great Queen with these Belts of Wampum. 1785T. Jefferson Notes Virginia 390 The Mingo or Six-nation Indians. Ibid., The Mingos are a war colony from the six nations. 1895Westm. Gaz. 13 Apr. 6/2 ‘Which..are the Six Nations?’ ‘The Mohawks, the Oneidas, the Onondegas, the Cayugas, the Senecas, and the Tuscaroras.’ 1900Ibid. 15 Jan. 10/1 The Six Nations Indian Reserve, Ontario... The Six Nation Indians number 3,500 to 4,000 souls.
1841Clergy List, Benefices (219), *Six Preachers. James Reeve M.A. 1816 [etc.]. 1879Crockford Cler. Directory 469/1 Six Preacher of Cant. Cathl. 1874.
e. Colloq. phr. six feet under and varr.: dead and buried; in or into the grave.
1942Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §117/19 Dead and buried..six feet under. 1968J. Sangster Touchfeather xv. 184 Bill didn't realise it, but he was as dead now as he would be when they lowered him six feet under. 1976A. Price War Game v. 107 He never cared for nobody born... He never did, and he never will. Not till he's six foot under. 1979J. Gerson Omega Factor 78 In Islay..we make sure the dead are stiff and cold and six feet under.
2. a. With ellipsis of n., which may usually be supplied from the context.
a900O.E. Martyrol. 1 Aug. 134 Þa hyra syxe wæron acwealde beforan þære meder. a1225Ancr. R. 298 Nullich of alle [mihtes] siggen, buten sixe. c1330Arth. & Merl. 6842 (Kölbing), Þo was þer of .xv. þousand Yleued bot sex bihinde. c1400Laud Troy Bk. 6859 He sles oure men by fyue and six. 1500–20Dunbar Poems liii. 43 Quhen thair was cum in fywe or sax, The Quenis Dog begowthe to rax. 1567Gude & Godlie Ball. (S.T.S.) 210 Gif God was maid of bittis of breid, Eit ȝe not oulklie sax or seuin. 1601Shakes. Jul. C. ii. i. 277 Heere haue beene Some sixe or seuen, who did hide their faces. 1673Humours Town 95 A Declamation against the Act for Six in the Hundred. 1724Swift Drapier's Lett. Wks. 1755 V. ii. 60 Wood's half-pence will come to be offered for six a penny. 1780Cowper Progr. Error 161 Let that day be blest,..Nobly distinguish'd above all the six. 1831Wilson's Amer. Ornith. II. 180 Four inches long, and six in extent. 1895Zangwill Master iii. vii. 401 Broken lines of foam, which sometimes rolled in six-deep.
b. More specifically with ellipsis of pieces, years (of age), syllables or feet (in verse), points (on a stag's horn), inches, or pence (as in ‘ten and six’).
c1420Avow. Arth. lxv, Alle in sundur hit brast, In six or in seuyn. c1440Pallad. on Husb. xii. 420 Ek oon yeer oolde Is good, & so til sixe on wol he holde. 1590Shakes. Mids. N. iii. i. 25 Well, we will haue such a Prologue, and it shall be written in eight and sixe. 1622Fletcher Span. Cur. ii. iii, Let him bear six, and six, that all may blaze him. 1781Cowper Table-T. 507 At Westminster, where little poets strive To set a distich upon six and five. 1818Byron Juan i. l, At six..he was a charming child. 1897M. Kingsley Trade W. Africa 329 The average height..is five feet six to five feet eight.
c. With omission of hours, as six o'clock.
[1482Monk of Evesham (Arb.) 20 Fro mydnyght tyl sex of the belle yn the mornyng.] 1596Shakes. Merch. V. ii. v. 25 At six a clocke ith morning. a1604Hanmer Chron. Irel. (1809) 273 Hee..tooke shipping..by sixe a clocke in the morning. 1629Wadsworth Pilgr. iii. 14 At six they go all to study in a large Hall. 1726Swift Gulliver iv. viii, I set sail on the 24th day of September, 1701, at six in the morning. 1834K. H. Digby Mores Cath. v. vi. 183 The rule in Du Guesclin's time was to rise and sup at six. 1888Lowell Heartsease & Rue 127 'Tis striking six! Sure never day Was short as this is!
attrib.1867A. J. Wilson Vashti xxv, I shall go on the six o'clock train. 1899Daily News 7 Dec. 3/4 De Aar has been placed under martial law and a six-to-six curfew established.
d. With omission of horses.
1684[see coach n. 4]. 1693Tate in Dryden's Juvenal ii. (1697) 30 You Nymphs that would to Coach and Six arrive. 1764Gray J.T. 18 Not I—for a coronet, chariot and six. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. iii. I. 377 A coach and six is..never seen, except as part of some pageant. 1877[see coach n. 4].
e. With omission of shillings; spec. in six-and-eightpence as a lawyer's fee; also transf.
a1700B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Six and eight-pence, the usual Fee given, to carry back the Body of the Executed Malefactor, to give it Christian Burial. 1748Richardson Clarissa VI. 393 Flinging down a Portugal Six-and-thirty [= a Joanese]. 1756Foote Eng. fr. Paris i, Lat. The Law..is the Bulwark... Crab. Mercy, good Six and Eight⁓pence. 1785Grose Dict. Vulgar T., Six and eight-pence, an attorney, whose fee on several occasions is fixed at that sum. 1825T. Hook Sayings Ser. ii. Man of Many Fr. (Colburn) 100 The six-and-eightpenny feeling..was too strong to be resisted. Ibid. 151 Cynics tell us, that..we shall find six-and-eightpence at the bottom of every thought and every action of mankind. 1879M. E. Braddon Clov. Foot x, I have..the interest of a friend rather than a lawyer. You don't suppose it's for the sake of the six-and-eightpence.
f. In phr. six..and half-a-dozen.., denoting that there is little or no difference or choice between two (sets of) persons or things.
1836Marryat Pirate iv, I never knows the children. It's just six of one and half-a-dozen of the other. 1865H. Kingsley Hillyars & Burtons xxxviii, ‘What do they say about his chance?’.. ‘Six and half-a-dozen, sir.’ 1870M. Bridgman R. Lynne II. xii. 256 My verdict is, six of one and half a dozen of the other.
g. Naut. slang phr. six upon four: (on) short rations (i.e. four men's food shared between six men). ? Obs.
1829D. Jerrold Black-ey'd Susan ii. ii. 31 May you live a life of ban-yan days, and be put six upon four for't. 1843J. F. Cooper Ned Myers 78 As to food, we were kept ‘six upon four’ the whole time I was prisoner. Ibid. 86 Put at ‘six upon four’ again.
h. Cricket. With omission of runs. (i) Six runs, esp. scored by striking the ball clear over the boundary. Cf. sense 6 of the n., below.
1857T. Hughes Tom Brown's School Days ii. viii. 392 When you or Raggles hit a ball hard away for six, I am delighted. 1951G. Brodribb All Round Wicket vi. 39 A lusty hit for six gives many people intense pleasure... There were..many outstanding feats of six-hitting. 1979Daily Tel. 29 May 17/3 The ball was hit for six..into the vicarage grounds.
(ii) Also transf. and fig. in various colloq. phrases: to knock (someone) for six, to wrench from a state of composure; to defeat (soundly); to astonish; also in extended uses, and with inanimate obj. Similarly, to go for six (see also quot. 1943); to hit for six: see hit v. 8 f.
1902J. Milne Epistles of Atkins vi. 107 ‘It knocked me for six’, is the statement we have about a bullet in the knee. 1934A. Berkeley Panic Party iv. 69 It's a crashing bore..to think of those dim cads knocking us for six like this, but..it's no use getting strenuous about it. 1941L. A. G. Strong John McCormack viii. 129 John..hurled his Santuzza from him with such vigour that she went for six, landing in the wings on the far side of the stage. 1943C. H. Ward-Jackson It's a Piece of Cake 32 Gone for six, killed, missing. 1949R. Gow Ann Veronica 1, in Plays of Year 1949 I. 240 You're just like an angel yourself sitting there. You knock me for six, if I may borrow a sporting metaphor. 1955Times 6 Aug. 7/4 It is a song that knocks for six the illusion..that little creatures probably know by instinct how to do their stuffs. 1973‘B. Graeme’ Two & Two make Five vi. 58 A glass of his home-made cider..knocks you for six.
i. Chiefly as Fr. phr. Les Six (le sis) a Parisian group of six composers, Louis Durey (1888–1979), Arthur Honegger (1892–1955), Darius Milhaud (1892–1974), Germaine Tailleferre (b. 1892), Georges Auric (b. 1899), and Francis Poulenc (1899–1963), formed after the war of 1914–18, whose music represents a reaction against romanticism and impressionism.
[1920H. Collet in Comœdia 16 Jan. 2/6 Les artistes conscients reconnaissent en Satie un maître. Voyons maintenant ce que valent les ‘Six’ qu'il précéda sur la voie nouvelle.] 1927Grove's Dict. Mus. (ed. 3) II. 662/1 Although a member of the group of French musicians known as the ‘Six’, he [sc. Honegger] is of Swiss parentage. 1934C. Lambert Music Ho! iii. 194 Chabrier..may be considered..the father of the post-war movement associated with the names of Les Six. 1952B. Ulanov Hist. Jazz in Amer. (1958) x. 113 The lessons the composer had learned from..the music of Ravel and les six were poorly applied. 1978P. Griffiths Conc. Hist. Mod. Music vi. 72 Les Six did not exist as a group for more than a few years.
j. the Six, the group of countries (Belgium, France, the German Federal Republic, Holland, Italy, and Luxembourg) which were the original members of the European Economic Community from 1958 until the admission of others in 1973.
1957[see European a. 1 c]. 1958Economist 18 Oct. 207/1 The Six are the European Community, fore⁓runner of the continental political union..that is to be when General de Gaulle is gone. 1981Times 30 June 7/1 In 1977 Britain..threatened to bring down the whole European edifice built up painstakingly by the original Six.
3. = sixth a.
c1385in Wyclif's Sel. Wks. III. 506 Oure pope Urban þo sex. c1430Brut ccxliii, And þe vj day come a nother Henauder. 1523Ld. Berners Froiss. I. cccxlvi. 547 Bartylmewe des Angles..receyued the papalyte, and was called Vrbayne the sixe. 1586W. Webbe Eng. Poetrie (Arb.) 62 Make short either the two, foure, sixe, eight, tenne, twelue sillable, and it will..fall out very absurdly. 1603Parsons in Cath. Rec. Soc. Publ. (1906) II. 218 This 6 of July.
B. n.
1. The abstract number six, or the symbol denoting this.
1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xix. cxix. (1495) 922 The nombre of syxe..is the fyrste perfyghte nombre of the euen partyes therof taken alle togyder. c1425Craft Nombrynge (E.E.T.S.) 6 Write þe digit of þe nombur in þe first place þat is sex. 1565Cooper Thesaurus, Senarius, that is of the number of sixe. 1611Cotgr., Sixiesme,..a proportion of six. 1696Phillips (ed. 5), Six, a Primitive Number, compos'd of Four and Two, or Twice Three. 1815G. Beattie John o' Arnha' (1826) 13 Scarcely could ye counted sax, Before [etc.]. 1861F. W. Robinson No Church ii. i, Little boys who wore their hair in ‘number sixes’ at the temples, when law had left them hair sufficient for such ornamentation.
2. Chiefly pl.
a. A set of six spots or pips on a die, domino, or card; also, a card, etc., having six pips or spots. (Cf. sice.)
1599Minsheu Percivall's Sp. Dict. Dial. 26 R. I did lift an ace.—L. I a fower.—M. I a sixe. 1663Cowley Ess., Danger of Procrastination, 'Tis a hundred to one, if a man fling two Sixes. 1863G. J. Whyte-Melville Gladiators I. 410 One more throw for the Sixes and the great game is fairly won. 1878T. Hardy Ret. Native iii. viii, Venn lifted the box, and behold a triplet of sixes was disclosed. 1885Harper's Mag. Apr. 734/2 You have thrown double-sixes.
b. A set of six persons: (a) gen.
1796Instr. & Reg. Cavalry (1813) 36 The standard and its coverer each in the middle of the two center ranks of sixes. 1842Borrow Bible in Spain xxiii, On every road of Spain..may be seen gangs of fives and sixes of these people. 1874Hardy Far from Madding Crowd ix, He's been courted by Sixes and Sevens—all the girls..have tried him.
(b) spec. a group of six Brownie Guides or Cub Scouts.
1916R. Baden-Powell Wolf Cub's Handbk. ii. 59 Each Six is called after a Wolf by its colour. 1920― Brownies or Blue Birds ii. 11 The Brownies are divided into parties of six; each ‘Six’ is under the leader who is called a ‘Sixer’. 1972Trinky & Peters Cub Scout Games 26 Cubs enjoy Six relays and will compete fiercely for their Six.
3. pl. In various elliptic uses.
a. Lines of six syllables. † b. Sixpenny nails. † c. ? Spirits. † d. Mus. Intervals of a sixth. e. Gloves, shoes, etc., of the sixth size. f. Six-pounder guns. g. Some form of cake. h. Candles weighing six to the pound. i. Large flower-pots, six of which are formed from a cast of clay. j. Bonds bearing interest at 6 per cent. k. U.S. slang. A prison sentence of six months. l. A six-cylinder motor car or engine.
a.1586W. Webbe Eng. Poetrie (Arb.) 59 The first [line] hauing eyght sillables, the second sixe, wherof the two sixes shall alwayes ryme. 1891J. C. Parsons English Versification 36 Sixes and four. Iambic trimeter and dimeter. Ibid., Sevens and sixes.
b.1629MS. Acc. St. John's Hosp., Canterb., For one hundred of fiues and one hundred of sixes xjd.
c.a1658Cleveland Xmas Day 14 Were ere such dregs mix'd with Geneva sixes?
d.1752tr. Rameau's Treat. Musick 44 Observe those two Parts that proceed always by Sixes. Ibid. 45 Before we had a Knowledge of these small and great Sixes, it was almost impossible to add two Parts with these Sixes.
e.1796Pegge Anonym. (1809) 97 When..a shoemaker..came to take measure of him, he told him, ‘O..long sixes or short sevens will do’.
f.1804Naval Chron. XI. 409 A Ship Privateer, carrying sixteen twelves and sixes. 1812in Examiner (1813) 4 Jan. 6/2 Carronades of different calibres, with two long sixes.
g.1825Hone Every-day Bk. I. 51 The..ginger-bread bakers coaxingly insinuate them among their new made sixes.
h.1825T. Hook Sayings Ser. ii. Passion & Princ. v, A serious injunction ‘not to take out sixes for tens’. 1826Lamb Pop. Fallacies xv, Man found out long sixes.—Hail candle-light! 1843Dickens Mart. Chuz. ii, An imaginary general illumination of very bright short-sixes.
i.1824J. C. Loudon Encycl. Gardening ii. 327 The Flower Pot, is a cylindrical tapering vessel of burnt clay, with a perforated bottom, and of which there are ten sorts, distinguished by their sizes thus: the..third [size has] 6 [to the cast, and are called] sixes [, being] 9 [inches diameter] 8 [inches deep]. 1851B'ham. & Midl. Gardeners' Mag. Apr. 31, I ordered..200 pots, (size full sixes).
j.1867Nation 10 Oct. 295 The bonds became known as the ‘Sixes of 1861’. 1893Daily News 29 June 2/5 Mexican Sixes have dropped further 31/4 per cent.
k.1844J. H. Ingraham La Bonita Cigarera vi. 27/1 I've served two sixes in her, and that's enough for me to give to the service o' my country! 1928J. O'Connor Broadway Racketeers xvii. 182 Even if its only a sixer in the pen, too many sixes are bad for the health.
l.1920Motor Man. (ed. 23) 19 The chief constructional difference between the six and the four is in the crankshaft. 1977Chicago Tribune 2 Oct. xiii. 18/2 The use of fours, sixes, and small V-8's is more prevalent in 1978.
4.
†a. Six-shilling beer. In later use pl. Also old six (see quot. 1890).
1631R. Brathwait Whimzies xii. 97 How this threede-bare Philosopher shruggs, shifts, and shuffles for a cuppe of six. 1655R. Younge Agst. Drunkards 3 Nor hath the richest Sherrie, or old Canarie any more operation with them, than a cup of six hath with me. 1785Grose Dict. Vulgar T., Six and Tips, whisky and small beer (Irish). 1796Ibid. (ed. 3), Sixes, small beer, formerly sold at six shillings the barrel. 1810in Anc. Brit. Drama II. 461, I suppose he means small beer, which, among the vulgar, still goes by the cant name of sixes. 1890Barrère & Leland Dict. Slang II. 98 Old six (common), old ale at sixpence a quart. Spoken—Look what I've got to do tonight! There's fourteen ‘pubs’ on my beat... That means that I've got fourteen pints of old six to get down me. 1898J. D. Brayshaw Slum Silhouettes 155 Tell 'er ter send for an hexty pint of old six. Ibid. 156 The foaming jug of ‘old six’ was placed on the table.
b. Sixpennyworth.
1871‘M. Legrand’ Cambr. Freshm. 107 Nothin'..but six of pale brandy neat got her round again.
5. In phrases with six and seven, sixes and sevens, etc., originally denoting the hazard of one's whole fortune, or carelessness as to the consequences of one's actions, and in later use the creation or existence of, or neglect to remove, confusion, disorder, or disagreement.
The original form of the phrase, to set on six and seven, is based on the language of dicing, and is probably a fanciful alteration of to set on cinque and sice, these being the two highest numbers. Subsequent variations arise from the use of at for on, of or for and, of other verbs in place of set, and of the plurals sixes and sevens; the latter became the standard form in the 18th cent. To illustrate the development more clearly, the chief types are here grouped in separate paragraphs.
(a)c1374Chaucer Troylus iv. 622 Lat nat this wrechched wo thyn herte gnawe, But manly set the world on sexe and seuene. c1460Towneley Myst. xvi. 128, I shall, and that in hy, set all on sex and seuen. 1535Stewart Cron. Scotl. I. 654 Quha..settis all his thrift on sax and sevin. 1542Udall Apoph. 267 b, There is a prouerbe, omnem jacere aleam, to cast all dyce, by which is signified, to sette all on sixe & seuen. 1601Weever Mirr. Mart. B iv, I'm in a wood,..Yet o're my head a threatning Rocke still hingeth..; Twixt wood and rocke, I stand on six and seauen. 1611Cotgr. s.v. Desesperade, Iouër à la desesperade, to set his whole rest, or set all on sixes, and seuens.
(b)1535Joye Apol. Tindale (Arb.) 43 Yet had he leuer marre and destroy al, and (as they saye) set all at six and seuen, then [etc.]. 1596Nashe Saffron Walden Wks. (Grosart) III. 38 Old Laertes..caring for all other things else, sets his owne estate at sixe and seauen. 1607T. Walkington Opt. Glass To Rdr., I haue set all at six and seuen, and I intend by the Muses favour happilie to go on. 1622Jackson Judah 56 To become cold, carelesse, and negligent, set all at six and seven.
(c)1583Golding Calvin on Deut. cxxxvi. 833 Not to runne and scratch for other mens goods, as if they were left at sixe and seuen. 1592Repentence R. Greene G.'s Wks. (Grosart) XII. 179 Then left I her [my wife] at six or seuen, who went into Lincolneshire, and I to London. 1648T. Hill Dying Saints 19 Do not let things lie at six and sevens..any longer. 1670G. H. tr. Hist. Cardinals ii. i. 127 They leave things at sixes and sevens. 1713Swift Cadenus & Vanessa 888 The goddess..Left all below at Six and Sev'n. 1785Grose Dict. Vulgar T., Left at sixes and sevens, in confusion, commonly said of a room where the furniture, etc. is scattered about, or of a business left unsettled. 1829Scott Jrnl. (1890) II. 317, I was sick of the labour by two o'clock and left several of my books and all of my papers at sixes and sevens. 1854A. E. Baker Northampt. Gloss. s.v., He's gone away in such a hurry, he has left everything at sixes and sevens.
(d)1597Beard Theatre God's Judgem. (1612) 528 He let the affaires of his kingdome runne at six and at sevens. a1610Healey Cebes (1636) 151 She doth nothing with discretion, but hurleth all about at six and seven. 1679Alsop Melius Inq. ii. viii. 369 The worship of God lying at sixes and sevens, the Government of the Church meer Anarchy. 1713Arbuthnot John Bull ii. i, His Affairs went on at sixes and sevens. 1784R. Bage Barham Downs I. 345 It was owing to the Six-and-seven way of going on of things in the heathen world. 1809Malkin Gil Blas xii. vii. ⁋3 The affairs of the treasurer..are all at sixes and sevens. 1862Hawthorne Our Old Home (1883) I. 171 The line of a railway..puts all precedent things at sixes-and-sevens. 1887Times (weekly ed.) 2 Sept. 15/3 [These] differences..have for a long time kept society in Sofia at sixes and sevens.
(e)a1704T. Brown Alsop's State of Conform. Wks. 1711 IV. 118 His zeal swallowing his concern for his Family, things were run to sixes and sevens. 1782E. N. Blower Geo. Bateman II. 126 If I was to go from home..every thing would soon go to sixes and sevens. 1846Mrs. Carlyle in New Lett. (1903) I. 219 With her departure everything went to sixes and sevens.
6. Cricket. A score of six runs made by striking the ball clear over the boundary; a shot which achieves this.
1920D. J. Knight in P. F. Warner Cricket i. 34 If accurately timed—remember that flick of the wrists at the psychological moment—there goes the easiest six in cricket to your credit! 1933H. Larwood Body-Line? 8 Mr. Wyatt again bats well... He ends a fiery rubber with a crashing six! 1949J. Symons Bland Beginning 217 The ball sailed high into the air... The umpire signalled a six. 1957G. Lyttelton Let. 27 June in Lyttelton-Hart-Davis Lett. (1979) II. 120 His [sc. F. Trueman's] three sixes off consecutive balls were worth seeing. 1976J. Snow Cricket Rebel 16 Shortly after my six-hitting effort the school was sold and the ground used for building.
7. the deep six: used in various slang phrs. to denote death or the grave (perh. from the custom of burial at sea, at a depth of six fathoms); also fig. Hence as v. trans., to submerge in water; also fig., to reject, abandon, conceal. orig. and chiefly U.S.
1929M. A. Gill Underworld Slang 4/2 Deep six, grave. 1947S. Palmer Miss Withers Regrets (1948) xii. 135 My old lady went over the hill with my bank account before I was out of boot camp. I'd have given her the deep-six if I coulda got a furlough. 1966T. Pynchon Crying of Lot 49 iii. 50 Attack, retaliation, both projectiles deep-sixed forever and the Pacific rolls on. 1973Times 26 July 8/3 Mr Dean has testified that Mr Ehrlichman told him to ‘deep six’ the documents... He said he threw the documents into the Potomac river. 1975Publishers Weekly 28 July 116/1 They discovered that Americans..have been hung up on the wisdom of Franklin's ‘Poor Richard's Almanack’..: ‘work hard, be thrifty, don't borrow.’.. They tell their readers to ‘deep six’ Poor Richard and put his advice into reverse. 1976Listener 28 Oct. 524/3 The more serious charge from Dean that he [sc. President Ford] tried to ‘deep six’ the Watergate investigation. 1977Islander (Victoria, B.C.) 21 Aug. 2/3, I heard later that Bruce had taken them [sc. three guns] out into the saltchuck and deep-sixed them. 1978Sunday Mail Color Mag. (Brisbane) 7 May 13 'Fraid the rest of the treasure and your gear have gone for the deep six!.. It's over three hundred feet to the bottom of that trench!
C. Comb.
1. a. Combining (usually hyphened) with a n. and forming an attrib. compound, as six-ball (over), six-bar (gate), six-bit (code, row), six-bottle (man), six-cylinder (engine, motor vehicle) (also absol.), six-piece (band), six-water (grog), etc.
Common during the 19th cent., and very freq. in recent use.
1910Blackw. Mag. Jan. 97/2 He covered something between 250 and 300 yards in the course of each *six-ball over. 1979Times 29 Nov. 19/1 England..made 211 for eight in their 50 six-ball overs.
1711Addison Spect. No. 57 ⁋3 She..makes nothing of leaping over a *Six-bar Gate.
1868U.S. Rep. Munit. War 286 Two of the *six barrel, and one of the ten barrel improved guns.
1964T. W. Mcrae Impact of Computers on Accounting i. 9 A computer using a ‘*six-bit’ binary code. 1964C. Dent Quantity Surveying by Computer vi. 72 These word trains, forming blocks of data, are directed to the tape via the tape control unit, which breaks them into six-bit rows.
1807E. S. Barrett Rising Sun I. 102 A *six-bottle-man, that is to say, one who can make such a tun of his corporation, as to carry off six bottles of wine at one sitting.
1812Sir J. Sinclair Syst. Husb. Scot. i. 303 On land that will carry beans, he thinks a *six-course shift the best.
1905G. B. Shaw in Grand Mag. Feb. 116 An old crock of a 1904 *six-cylinder car. 1938New Statesman 22 Jan. 142/2 At one period the Morris interests were building a couple of dozen six-cylinders, all different. 1977‘D. Rutherford’ Return Load iv. 83 Under the shiny cellulose lid..lurked a six-cylinder engine.
1822–7Good Study Med. (1829) II. 131 Five-day ague... *Six-day ague.
1684T. Burnet Theory Earth iii. 45 It does not agree with the scheme of the *six-days creation. 1890Pall Mall G. 6 Feb. 1/2 An eight hours day and a six days week stand in the forefront of the workman's programme.
1812Sir J. Sinclair Syst. Husb. Scot. ii. 132 A *six-ell ridge about 19½ feet broad.
1801Busby Dict. Mus., Trimeters, ancient lyrical verses of a *six-feet measure.
1709Lond. Gaz. No. 4515/3 A *six gun Privateer taken by the Crown.
1794T. Davis Agric. Wilts. 112 The lowest size of a Wiltshire down farm, that can be managed to advantage, is a good *six horse business. 1892E. Reeves Homew. Bound 114 Cobb & Co.'s line of six-horse coaches.
1848Thackeray Van. Fair xxxii, The entire repulse of the French under Ney after a *six hours' battle.
1761in Sir J. Picton L'pool Munic Rec. (1886) II. 276 Carts to have *six-inch Wheels. 1890W. J. Gordon Foundry 23 This six-inch gun is stopped dead in eighteen inches.
1863Trevelyan Compet. Wallah (1866) 30 The sun was low enough to allow me to venture on a *six-mile walk.
1884Britten Watch & Clockm. 268 *Six month Clocks have two extra wheels and pinions between the great and centre wheels.
1887I. R. Ranche Life Montana 46 From a *six-months' calf to very old cows.
1948A. Baron From City from Plough 39 On the dais at the end of the ballroom a *six-piece band thumped and brayed. 1959Encounter Oct. 49/1 In the dining-room a six-piece dance-band plays.
1839Ure Dict. Arts 580 A ground plan..of a *six-pot furnace.
1856Morton Cycl. Agric. II. 725/3 *Six-quarter-cattle, (Fife), from eighteen months to two years old.
1852Surtees Sponge's Sp. Tour (1893) 203 He is a *six-season hunter.
1614B. Jonson Bart. Fair i. i, Give me the man can start up a justice of wit, out of *six shillings beer. 1679Evelyn Pomona (ed. 3) Pref., When..our Citizens..shall come to drink it [cider] moderately diluted, (as now they do six-shilling Beer, in London and other places). 1898Westm. Gaz. 17 Nov. 5/1 The length requisite for a six-shilling novel.
1832J. Rennie Butterfl. & Moths 23 *Six Spot Burnet.
1813T. Davis Agric. Wilts. Gloss. s.v. Sheep, [Sheep are called] *six-teeth [wethers or ewes] from the shear-time after three years old. 1872Routledge's Every Boy's Ann. 134/2 The difference between a four and a six tooth wether.
1669Sturmy Mariner's Mag. v. i. 3 A *six Thred-line or small Belch.
1829D. Jerrold Black-Ey'd Susan ii. i. 27 May I be put on *six-water grog for a lubber. 1833Marryat P. Simple (1863) 267 You'll make a wry face upon six-water grog. 1874Slang Dict. 292 Six-water Grog,..the weakest grog possible—six portions of water to one of rum.
1851Westm. Rev. July 368 A *six wheel tank engine.
1898Hutchinson's Arch. Surg. IX. 293, I find that practical dentists are in the habit of speaking of the first permanent molar tooth as ‘the *six year molar’.
b. In phr. six-year(s)-old used attrib. or absol.
1630M. Godwyn tr. Bp. Hereford's Ann. Eng. 220 The six yeare old Queene. 1707Lond. Gaz. No. 4342/3 A Plate..shall..be run for..by Six Years old Mares. 1850Thackeray Pendennis lviii, My wife..wears shoes for a six-years-old child. 1897Daily News 15 Feb. 2/3 This six-year-old has a very light weight to carry.
c. In various attributive combs.
1858Hogg Life Shelley II. 158 Thrice in the week did the six-inside coach plough its reluctant course to town. 1889Daily News 22 Jan. 2/5 The minister never came down out of his six-by-four pulpit to be cross-examined. 1895Times 10 Sept. 4/2 The Football Association..[is] prohibiting all six-a-side competitions.
2. Parasynthetic, as six-angled, six-arched, six-barred, six-holed, six-membered, six-pointed, six-toothed , six-wheeled, etc.; sometimes in specific names of animals, birds, etc., as six-banded, six-belted, six-lined, six-plumed, six-striped (see quots.).
Many examples of this type occur in recent use.
1509Hawes Past. Pleas. xxi. (Percy Soc.) 99 With knottes *sixeangled, gay and glorious, The rofe did hange. 1681Grew Musæum i. ii. i. 18 Not of triangular, but six-angl'd and square pieces.
1893‘Mark Rutherford’ C. Furze i, A *six-arched stone bridge.
1800Shaw Gen. Zool. I. i. 189 *Six-banded Armadillo. 1879E. P. Wright Anim. Life 213 The Six-banded Armadillo..is a native of Brazil.
1760–72H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) IV. 58 They met with a *six-barred gate.
1881Times 15 Jan. 5/6 The *six-barrelled Gatling..fired 267.
1908R. South Moths Brit. Isles II. 358 *Six-belted Clearwing... The body of the male has seven yellow belts, and that of the female one less. 1958W. J. Stokoe Caterpillars Brit. Moths II. 244 The Six-belted Clearwing..Dipsosphecia scopigera. The haunts of this moth are on chalk downs.
1877W. Black Green Past. xi. 89 He..took out a *six-chambered revolver.
1552Huloet, *Sixe cornered. 1610Holland Camden's Brit. 239 Pointed with sixe cornerd or foure cornerd smooth sides.
1800Asiatic Ann. Reg. 271/1 Peduncles very short, solitary, *six-flowered.
1846Ecclesiologist V. 164 The window..consists of two trefoiled lights, with a *sixfoiled circle in the lead.
16022nd Pt. Return fr. Parnass. v. iv, And art thou there *six footed Mercury? 1820T. Mitchell Aristoph. I. 231 Words of six-footed dimension.
1606Shakes. Tr. & Cr. Prol. 15 Priams *six-gated City.
1862Couch Brit. Fishes I. 21 *Six-Gilled Shark... Grey Shark.
1955E. Pound Classic Anthol. ii. 135 With *six-holed flutes That were bamboo shoots.
1821Scott Kenilw. i, During the emptying of a *six-hooped pot.
1651Ogilby æsop (1665) 12 The Vulgar shout to see their *six-inch'd King.
1828Stark Elem. Nat. Hist. II. 181 Body *six-jointed, the last segment largest.
1753Chambers' Cycl. Suppl. s.v. Convolvulus, The smaller five or *six-leav'd hairy bindweed of Ceylon.
a1711Ken Hymnotheo Poet. Wks. 1721 III. 11 The *Six-legg'd Nation [sc. ants] in the Fields appears. 1874Lubbock Metam. Ins. i. 16 The larva is minute, six-legged, and very active.
1802Shaw Gen. Zool. III. i. 240 *Six-lined Lizard.
1956I. L. Finar Org. Chem. II. viii. 252 Bicyclic monoterpenes contain a *six-membered ring and a three-, four-, or five-membered ring. 1978A. J. Birch in Further Perspectives Organic Chem. (Ciba Symposium) 6 A similar cyclization to a six-membered ring from the C20-precursor geranyl-geranyl pyrophosphate would not yield this group.
1685Lond. Gaz. No. 2023/4 A *six Oared Barge never used above four or five times. 1809Brydone Tour Sicily xiii. 155 This is a small six-oared boat, made entirely for speed.
1880Cassell's Nat. Hist. IV. 25 The *Six-plumed Bird of Paradise.
1764T. H. Croker et al. Compl. Dict. Arts & Sciences I. s.v. Diamond, These [diamonds] the jewellers call *six-pointed stones. 1864Boutell Her. Hist. & Pop. xxiv. (ed. 3) 405 Its six-pointed mullets charged upon a field of Warrenne.
1888Rutley Rock-forming Min. 193 A small *six-rayed star has been developed.
1721Bradley Philos. Acc. Wks. Nat. 24 The other has its Stems *six-rib'd.
1890‘R. Boldrewood’ Col. Reformer (1891) 423 A neat *six-roomed cottage.
1762Mills Syst. Pract. Husb. I. 419 Both the four rowed and the *six rowed barley. 1856Morton Cycl. Agric. I. 183 The six-rowed barley is said to be hardy and prolific.
1805R. W. Dickson Pract. Agric. I. Pl. ix, A *six-shared horse-hoe.
1596Harington Metam. Ajax D ij, The king..saued him from the ierke of the *six string'd whip. 1897Watts-Dunton Aylwin iii. ix, This obsolete six-stringed instrument.
1907R. South Moths Brit. Isles I. 227 The *Six-striped Rustic..is also generally distributed over our islands.
1696Patrick Comm. Exod. xxvii. (1697) 524 These Hangings..were made of simple fine *sixthreded Linen.
1742W. Ellis Mod. Husbandman Sept. xxvi. 124 The Sheep..are generally *six-toothed Wethers. 1812W. Stevenson Agric. Dorset 411 They..are called by the name of two-toothed, four-toothed, and six-toothed ewes. 1856Farmer's Mag. Jan. 29 The old plan of keeping flocks until six-toothed is become quite obsolete.
1841Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl. IV. 90/2 The question of four and *six-wheeled engines. a1976A. Christie Autobiogr. (1977) viii. i. 372 It was at this time of day when the big *six-wheeled cars most often went off the track.
a1711Ken Hymnotheo Poet. Wks. 1721 III. 204 Some cast on *Six-wing'd Seraphs envious eye.
3. In comb. with ns. ending in -er, as six-bitter [bit n.2 8 b], six-footer, six-roomer, six-seater, six-wheeler.
Other examples, as six-incher, etc., occur in recent use.
1928Coast Guard Aug. 6/1 (caption) A fleet of ‘*six-bitters’, or 75-footers, at maneuvers. 1964M. F. Willoughby Rum War at Sea vii. 88 Many six-bitters were used offshore to picket larger rum vessels.
1844Hewlett Pars. & W. xxxiii, I..inquired of a second *six-footer. 1887Black S. Zembra 192 Scarcely a man of the family less than a six-footer! 1897Outing XXX. 144 Some of the big six-footers (commonly called ‘old sojers’ or ‘old man kangaroos’).
1853Dickens Bleak Ho. lxiv. 612 ‘It's a *six roomer, exclusive of kitchens,’ said Mr. Guppy, ‘and in the opinion of my friends, a commodious tenement.’ 1894A. Morrison Mean Streets 115 A remnant of land too small for another six-roomer.
1932T. S. Eliot Sweeney Agonistes 24 There's no motor cars No two-seaters, no *six-seaters. 1977Herald (Melbourne) 18 Jan. 2/2 A six-seater antique dining table, and two antique chairs were among the $4000 haul.
1890W. J. Gordon Foundry 158 The longest *six-wheeler is fifty-four feet [long].
4. In advb. sense, = ‘in six parts’, as six-cleft, six-parted, six-partite.
1785Martyn Rousseau's Lett. Bot. xxviii. 439 The corol is six-parted; and the stamens are usually eighteen. 1832Rennie Butterfl. & Moths 231 The Six-cleft Plume..appears early in spring. 1861Hulme Wild Fl. Introd. p. viii, Perianth campanulate, six-partite. 1866Treas. Bot. 167/2 A very short six-cleft somewhat spreading limb.
5. Miscellaneous, as six-ale (see quot. 1898); six-bar, a six-barred gate; six-branchial a., six-gilled; six by six U.S. Mil. slang (see quot. 1966); also written 6 × 6, 6 by 6 and ellipt. as six-by; six chamber, a six-chambered revolver; also in full six chamber revolver; Six Day(s) War, an Arab—Israeli war that lasted from 5 to 10 June 1967; † six-double a., sixfold; six-eight tempo, time Mus., time or rhythm having a bar length of six quavers' duration divided into two equal beats; also ellipt. and as {sixon8}; six-figure a., (a) evaluated to or containing six significant figures or six decimal places; (b) containing or represented by six digits; spec. worth hundreds of thousands (of pounds, dollars, etc.); also in phr. in six figures; six-four (see quot.); six-four measure, meter, time Mus., time or rhythm having a bar length of six crotchets' duration divided into two equal beats; also ellipt. and as {sixon4}; six-gun N. Amer. = six-shooter; cf. six-chamber (revolver); six-oar, a six-oared boat; six o'clock: see sense 2 c of the adj.; also denoting any position resembling that of the hands of a clock at six o'clock; six-pack orig. and chiefly U.S., a package containing six cans or bottles of a drink; six-shot, six-stroke, a stroke in billiards counting six points; six-tooth (cf. six-tooth C. 1 and six-toothed C. 2); six-two time Mus., time or rhythm having a bar length of six minims' duration divided into two equal beats; also written {sixon2}.
1871N.Y. Almanac 40/1 And a glass of ‘*six ale’, punctually every morning at eleven o'clock, was absolutely necessary to his existence. 1898N. & Q. 9th Ser. I. 132 ‘Six ale’ is a mixture of one at fourpence a pot with one at eightpence a pot in equal proportions.
1841Lytton Night & M. i. iv, We will..take the gate yonder—the old *six-bar.
1862Couch Brit. Fishes I. 21 *Six-Branchial Shark.
1942Infantry Jrnl. Sept. 41/1 A group of upturned faces stands out to an aerial observer like a *6 × 6 in a flock of jeeps. 1943Yank 3 Sept. 7/2 I'm herding a 6 by 6. 1966Sunday Times (Colour Suppl.) 4 Dec. 73/4 GI Jargon. Six by six, six wheel truck with six-wheel drive. 1973D. Fairbairn Shoot xiv. 109, I want you to load everything onto a six-by, and I want you to have the six-by all gassed up and ready to go.
1898Tit-Bits 9 July 289/1, I slipped..a neat..*six-chamber into my hip-pocket. 1922Joyce Ulysses 642 The sixchamber revolver anecdotes verging on the tropical.
1967Times 14 June 1/3 The purpose of this move is clearly to have the Assembly condemn Israel and demand that she withdraw her armed forces to the armistice demarcation lines as they existed before the *six-day war that started on June 5. 1967Listener 17 Aug. 196/3 In the euphoria that followed the Six Days War, the Israelis appear to be convinced that they can work miracles. 1977P. Johnson Enemies of Society xviii. 241 The impetus which created the political terrorism of the 1970s was undoubtedly provided by the Arab defeat in the 1967 Six Day war.
1552Huloet, *Sixe dowble, sexcuplus.
1873Illustr. London News 2 Aug. 114/2 ‘Sleep, baby darling,’ a lullaby..is in the *six-eight tempo conventionally associated with slumber-songs. 1884Grove Dict. Mus. IV. 119/1 Six-eight time..with two Beats in the Bar, each represented by a dotted Crotchet—or its equivalent, three Quavers. 1936F. G. Hawkes Stud. in Time & Tempo xii. 74, 2/4, 6/4, and 6/8 are much alike so far as the movements of the baton are concerned. 1965New Yorker 8 May 173/1 McFarland's rhythms are full of stop-times, double time-passages, six-eight time, and shuffle rhythms. 1978G. Read Mod. Rhythmic Notation v. 158 In essence, the 6/8 violin part constitutes triplets in duple time.
1840R. Farley (title) Tables of *six-figure logarithms. 1873‘Mark Twain’ & Warner Gilded Age xiii. 123 He always talked in six figures. It was as natural for the dear boy to be rich as it is for most of us to be poor. 1963P. Drackett Motor Rallying iii. 40 To illustrate, let's take a six-figure reference, the type normally employed. It may be, say 386 443. 1970J. McN. Dodgson Pl.-Names Cheshire I. p. xliv, A four- or six-figure National Grid reference to the location of the principal hamlet. 1971Daily Tel. 7 July 14, 64 pictures in 75 minutes, three in the six-figure class, and Monet's great painting..not far behind. 1981R. Adams Girl in Swing (rev. ed.) xxi. 291 If you were to decide to put it into auction it would be almost bound to go for a very large sum—in the six-figure range.
1873H. C. Banister Music 70 The second inversion, consisting of a note with its 4th and 6th, is termed the Chord of the *Six-four. 1884Grove Dict. Mus. IV. 119/1 Six-four Time..with two Beats in the bar, each represented by a dotted Minim—or its equivalent, three Crotchets. 1936Six-four [see six-eight above]. 1938Oxf. Compan. Mus. 409/1 If the fifth [is in the bass] it is a Second Inversion (also spoken of as ‘six-four’ chord). 1968Listener 6 June 748/3 An un⁓metrical vocal line in six-four against an accompaniment in four-four. 1978G. Read Mod. Rhythmic Notation v. 159 Combining two {vb}3/4 measures into one {vb}6/4 measure does not simplify the issue, nor would altering the {vb}6/4 meter to {vb}5/2.
1912W. M. Raine Brand Blotters 336 My carbine was gone. It was too far for a *six-gun. 1968E. McCourt Saskatchewan v. 61 The Canadian cowboys rode un⁓armed, the Americans carried six-guns. 1979G. Swarthout Skeletons 30 I'll..order a shot of red-eye and lay my six-gun on the bar.
1856Lever Martins of Cro' M. vii. 57 Where [were] the fellows who could tool a team or steer a *six-oar?
1684Phil. Trans. R. Soc. XVII. 672 The Courses [i.e. veins of ore] usually lying from East to West, or at *Six a Clock as their Term is. 1915‘I. Hay’ First Hundred Thousand vii. 82 He..touched ‘six o' clock’ on the distant bull..and took the second pull for the last time. 1927W. E. Collinson Contemp. Eng. 92 Expressions I learnt..when doing target-practice..viz. the six o'clock aim (from position on target focussed).
1961Wall St. Jrnl. 19 Oct. 1/5 One leading brand which retailed for $2·09 a *six-pack last January now is sold for $1·79. 1972M. J. Bosse Incident at Naha iii. 138, I took her a pound of bacon and a six-pack of diet cola. 1981TV Picture Life Mar. 46/2 ‘I went out and borrowed a pickup truck and wore my hat out in the rain for a couple of days, got a six-pack of beer and didn't shower,’ John remembers.
1861Chambers's Encycl. II. 98/2 A *six-stroke is made by playing at the red, and pocketing it and your own.
1878Wilts. Arch. Mag. XVII. 303 We have wether hogs.., and four-tooths, and *six-tooths.
1884Grove Dict. Mus. IV. 119/1 *Six-two time, 6/2; with two beats in each Bar; each represented by a dotted Semibreve—or its equivalent, three Minims. 1978G. Read Mod. Rhythmic Notation ii. 9 In more traditional symbology, 3/1 or 3/1.
Add:[B.] 8. Familiar shortening of M.I.6 (s.v. M III. 6 a).
1969W. Garner Us or Them War ii. 24 He thought he might strike a better bargain with us than with Five or Six. [Note] M.I.5 and M.I.6. 1975J. Grady Shadow of Condor iii. 65, I think the Special Branch... No sense letting Five and Six directly involve themselves. 1982G. Lyall Conduct of Major Maxim iv. 35 When you agreed to meet comrade Blagg you didn't know anything about..the involvement of Six.
▸ six-pack n. colloq. a set of well-developed abdominal muscles; a lean, muscular midriff.
1992Los Angeles Times (Nexis) 30 Sept. c6/1 Rousseve believes his stomach muscles to be quite defined, but not quite as defined as someone with a total *six-pack. 1994Newsday (Electronic ed.) 15 Aug. Watching Tamilee flex her biceps and show off her ‘six-pack’ abs, it's hard not to feel a twinge of jealousy. 1998Zest Sept. 122 The rectus abdominis is also the muscle that gives a stomach the ‘six-pack’ look, as it is divided up by three horizontal fibrous bands which, when body fat is very low, will show up. |