thirty-eight

noun

thir·​ty-eight ˌthər-tē-ˈāt How to pronounce thirty-eight (audio)
1
: a number that is one more than 37 see Table of Numbers
2
: a .38 caliber handgun
usually written .38
thirty-eight adjective
thirty-eight pronoun, plural in construction

Examples of thirty-eight in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
These examples are automatically compiled from online sources to illustrate current usage. Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
The district was far smaller than Rochester, with some thirty-eight hundred students, more than seventy per cent of them white, but the job paid nearly as much. Alec MacGillis, The New Yorker, 26 Aug. 2024 That ended up being a few months, and now it’s been thirty-eight years. Stephania Taladrid, The New Yorker, 17 Aug. 2024 The Reds’ immediate future will rely heavily on the All-Star shortstop Elly de la Cruz, who has emerged in his first full season as the most exciting player in baseball, just as Davis did thirty-eight summers ago. Brandon Harris, The New Yorker, 7 Aug. 2024 After the Hamas attacks of October 7th, Israel began its military campaign in the Gaza Strip, where more than thirty-eight thousand Palestinians have been killed. Isaac Chotiner, The New Yorker, 2 July 2024 Much has changed in the Church’s approach in the thirty-eight years since. Paul Elie, The New Yorker, 13 Apr. 2024 Though only thirty-eight years old, Gaetz, the scion of a political family in Florida’s Panhandle, had become one of the Republican Party’s most prominent and divisive figures. Dexter Filkins, The New Yorker, 19 Feb. 2024 That share fell to thirty-eight per cent in August, 2022, the last time the center collected responses. Michael Luo, The New Yorker, 13 Dec. 2023 Yet only one animal in thirty-eight developed a malignant lesion. Siddhartha Mukherjee, The New Yorker, 11 Dec. 2023

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1541, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of thirty-eight was circa 1541

Dictionary Entries Near thirty-eight

Cite this Entry

“Thirty-eight.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/thirty-eight. Accessed 6 Nov. 2024.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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