plural fifths
ˈfiths 
ˈfif(t)ths,
ˈfif(t)s
1
: one that is number five in a series
Payment is due on the fifth of the month.
see Table of Numbers
2
: one of five equal parts of something
spent a fifth of their income on rent
3
a
: the musical interval embracing five diatonic degrees
b
: a tone at this interval
specifically
: dominant sense 1
c
: the harmonic combination of two tones at this interval
4
: a unit of measure for liquor equal to one fifth of a U.S. gallon (0.757 liter)
5
the Fifth
: the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution
also
: the right accorded by the Fifth Amendment to refuse to testify against oneself see also plead the Fifth, take the Fifth
fifth
adjective or adverb
the fifth annual food festival
She finished fifth in the race.
fifthly
adverb
Fourthly, it takes a lot of concrete to make a nuclear power plant. Fifthly, there is no place to put the waste that is safe.
—
Victor Odlivak
Victor Odlivak
Examples of fifth in a Sentence
The bill is due on the fifth of each month.
She donated a fifth of her income to charity.
bought a fifth of whiskey
Recent Examples on the Web
Less than a fifth of Republicans ranked the CDC as a leading source of public health information, compared to 60 percent of Democrats.
—Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Newsweek, 5 Feb. 2025
Maryland replied with an 11-0 run fueled by back-to-back-to-back 3-pointers by sophomore shooting guard DeShawn Harris-Smith (his fifth of the season in 23 attempts and first in eight games), Gillespie and Rice.
—Edward Lee, Baltimore Sun, 30 Jan. 2025
And because remittances make up about a fifth of GDP in Guatemala and about a quarter in El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua, large-scale deportations threaten to deliver a brutal shock to their economies.
—Will Freeman, The Atlantic, 29 Jan. 2025
The North Korean corps makes up a fifth of the Russian and allied force attempting to eliminate the 250-square-mile salient that 20,000 Ukrainian troops carved out of Kursk in a surprise August offensive.
—David Axe, Forbes, 22 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for fifth 
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Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Newsweek, 5 Feb. 2025
Maryland replied with an 11-0 run fueled by back-to-back-to-back 3-pointers by sophomore shooting guard DeShawn Harris-Smith (his fifth of the season in 23 attempts and first in eight games), Gillespie and Rice.
—Edward Lee, Baltimore Sun, 30 Jan. 2025
And because remittances make up about a fifth of GDP in Guatemala and about a quarter in El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua, large-scale deportations threaten to deliver a brutal shock to their economies.
—Will Freeman, The Atlantic, 29 Jan. 2025
The North Korean corps makes up a fifth of the Russian and allied force attempting to eliminate the 250-square-mile salient that 20,000 Ukrainian troops carved out of Kursk in a surprise August offensive.
—David Axe, Forbes, 22 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for fifth
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Cite this Entry
“Fifth.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fifth. Accessed 12 Feb. 2025.
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