sixth
/sɪksθ
/ordinal number
1Constituting number six in a sequence; 6th: her sixth novel the sixth of the month to the original five categories we add a sixth...
- I had realised some time ago, after completing my sixth novel, The Juicy Beaks, that I wasn't much of a writer.
- In his sixth novel, Harvey layers narratives and characters on top of one another.
- In 1997, pneumonia and influenza constituted the sixth leading cause of death in the United States.
1.1The sixth finisher or position in a race or competition: he could only finish sixth...
- He is in good position with a sixth overall and nine races to go.
- He is the only Cup driver who has finished every race and is in sixth place after finishing 20th Sunday at Dover.
- He said the players who went for last year's championship in Namibia complained that they could have finished better than sixth position had they been dressed properly.
1.2chiefly British The sixth form of a school or college: the naughtiest girl in the sixth...
- As he spoke, they cackled and jeered, like the lower sixth at some public school debate.
- The school allows pupils in the upper sixth to have one or two glasses of wine with a meal on a Saturday or Sunday.
- I was in the lower sixth at the time and, as a girl in a northern comprehensive, I was actively discouraged by my teachers from making an Oxford application.
1.3Sixthly (used to introduce a sixth point or reason): sixth, given all the facts there is no logical reason why we can’t make a decision
1.4 Music An interval spanning six consecutive notes in a diatonic major or minor scale, e.g. C to A (major sixth) or A to F (minor sixth).I only played three carefully considered notes with intuitive regard to choice of rhythm, tempo, dynamics - using a poignant interval, the minor sixth resolving to the perfect fifth....
- Practicing fourths and consecutive sevenths challenges the ear in ways that sixths and thirds don't, in addition to enhancing hand stability.
- After 2 bars piano chords come in, which will form the basis of the verse and chorus melody; these sound like minor sixths a step or so apart.
1.5 Music The note which is higher by a sixth than the tonic of a scale or root of a chord.
2Each of six equal parts into which something is or may be divided: a sixth of the total population...
- Trim off the tough outer stems and stalk of the fennel, then cut each bulb in half and each half into sixths.
- Electronics giant Siemens, for example, employs 70,000 people in the U.S., nearly a sixth of total staff.
- Cut the tomatoes into quarters or sixths depending on size.
