sixty

[siks-tee]

noun

plural

sixties 

1. a cardinal number, ten times six.

2. a symbol for this number, as 60 or LX.

3. a set of this many persons or things.

4. sixties, the numbers, years, degrees, or the like, from 60 through 69, as in referring to numbered streets, indicating the years of a lifetime or of a century, or noting degrees of temperature.

   Her grandfather is in his late sixties. The temperature is in the low sixties.

adjective

1. amounting to 60 in number.

sixty

/ ˈsɪkstɪ /

noun

1. the cardinal number that is the product of ten and six See also number

2. a numeral, 60, LX, etc, representing sixty

3. something represented by, representing, or consisting of 60 units

determiner

1. 1. amounting to sixty

      sixty soldiers

   2. ( as pronoun )

      sixty are dead

Word History and Origins

Origin of sixty¹

before 900; Middle English (adj. and noun), Old English sixtig (adj.); cognate with Dutch zestig, German sechzig, Old Norse sextigir. See six, -ty ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of sixty¹

Old English sixtig

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. like sixty, with great speed, ease, energy, or zest.

   Everyone was working like sixty to finish up before the holidays.

Example Sentences

The post also included a quote from Gibson: “Whenever I leave this world, whether it’s sixty years from now, I wouldn’t want anyone to say I lost some battle. I’ll be a winner that day.”

From Los Angeles Times

Dear Liz: My husband’s parents, who are 88 and 93, respectively, have decided to leave their house, worth $800,000, equally, to their three children, who are all in their sixties.

From Los Angeles Times

Martha, who is now in her sixties, said all the children present were removed and she was eventually adopted by a non-traveller family.

From BBC

In March, the Education Department sent letters to sixty campuses warning them to “protect Jewish students” or “face potential enforcement.”

From Los Angeles Times

"Fifty or sixty percent of them don't even know one another. So even if you were an outside group, trying to have an agenda, it's very hard even to pick your cardinals to begin with."

From BBC