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 New Haven is a compact city of a hundred and thirty-eight thousand people. Nicholas Dawidoff, The New Yorker, 18 Nov. 2023 Just eight hundred and thirty-eight people voted in the Republican primary; Tan won by thirty-one votes. Jasper Lo, The New Yorker, 4 Nov. 2023 Tomorrow claims that its forecasts are thirty-eight per cent better than everyone else’s, thanks to an artificial intelligence that the company has nicknamed Gale. Laura Lane, The New Yorker, 25 Sep. 2023 That, too, was propelled by his serve, which his opponent, Nicolas Mahut, could not break in a fifth set that took a hundred and thirty-eight games. Gerald Marzorati, The New Yorker, 30 Aug. 2023 In thirty-eight states patients can now freely access high-quality cannabis for medical conditions that are often notoriously resistant to other treatments. Peter Grinspoon, Time, 23 Aug. 2023 The Presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy is thirty-eight years old and slender, with thick black hair, receding a bit at the temples, swept up into something approaching a pompadour. Benjamin Wallace-Wells, The New Yorker, 17 Aug. 2023 Training for the public is ubiquitous; in thirty-eight states, students are required to learn the procedure before graduating high school. Sunita Puri, The New Yorker, 5 Aug. 2023 Uxbridge has had only two Labour M.P.s in a hundred and thirty-eight years; the last one left office in 1970. Sam Knight, The New Yorker, 21 July 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'thirty-eight.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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 10 Dec. 2023.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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