forty

noun

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for·ty | \ ˈfȯr-tē

plural forties

Definition of forty

1 : a number equal to four times 10 — see Table of Numbers

2 forties plural : the numbers 40 to 49 specifically : the years 40 to 49 in a lifetime or century

3 : the third point scored by a side in a game of tennis

4 or 40, US, informal : a forty-ounce bottle of an alcoholic beverage (such as beer or malt liquor) Kelvin finished his forty in seven or eight long gulps. Tossed the bottle in the median carpeted with brown grass.— Dave Byrne … smoking weed and drinking 40s while her kids run loose.— Jim Schutze

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Examples of forty in a Sentence

The temperature outside is in the high forties. She is in her forties.

Recent Examples on the Web There was another patient waiting, a woman in her forties with brown, chin-length hair. — Brooke Jarvis, Wired, "The First Shot: Inside the Covid Vaccine Fast Track," 13 May 2020 Now, today’s middle-class workers in their forties and even fifties will likely get stuck with the huge tax increases. — Shawn Tully, Fortune, "Who will pay for the coronavirus bailout? If you’re under 50 and working, you will," 20 Apr. 2020 Despite initial data from China that showed elderly people and those with other health conditions were most vulnerable, young people — from twenty-somethings to those in their early forties — are falling seriously ill. — Robert Langreth, Bloomberg.com, "Yes, Young People Are Falling Seriously Ill From Covid-19," 15 Mar. 2020 The victim has so far only been identified as a man in his forties or fifties. — Chris Harris, PEOPLE.com, "Hiker Finds Decapitated Body in Los Angeles' Griffith Park," 4 Dec. 2019 His memoir, starting with life here in the thirties and forties, is the main course of Reflections and it is presented with side dishes of state and local history, travelogues, biographies, philosophy and fishing lore. — courant.com, "Community News For The Windsor Edition," 31 Oct. 2019 That growing up includes my twenties, my thirties, and even my forties. — Liana Satenstein, Vogue, "Marc Jacobs Will Receive MTV’s First-Ever Fashion Trailblazer Award," 30 July 2019 The relative increases are four to five times higher than the increases in workforce gains in people in their thirties, forties, and fifties. — Isaac Chotiner, The New Yorker, "How Old Is Too Old to Work?," 8 Mar. 2020 The masks take between an hour and forty minutes to three hours to print, depending on the type of mask. — Claire Goodman, Houston Chronicle, "Master naturalist uses 3D printer to make protective equipment for first responders," 7 Apr. 2020

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'forty.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.