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
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Rodgers, who is thirty-eight, scanned the menu through tortoiseshell glasses before settling on avocado toast. Jennifer Wilson, New Yorker, 22 Dec. 2025 But in thirty-eight years there has only ever been one SPACEBALLS. Natalie Oganesyan, Deadline, 20 Dec. 2025 Over eight thousand Taco Bells and thirty-eight hundred Chipotles have institutionalized homogenized versions of Tex-Mex/Mexican cuisine across the US and elsewhere. JSTOR Daily, 26 Nov. 2025 Maguire had created, as the author himself described it, a dense, almost nineteenth-century-type novel that takes place over thirty-eight years and has thirty-eight speaking parts. CBS News, 16 Nov. 2025 Megan Reed, a smiley thirty-eight-year-old public-affairs manager for Bell, told me that the MV-75 was slated to replace the oldfangled Black Hawk, which entered service in 1979. Seth Harp, Harpers Magazine, 19 Sep. 2025 It has been translated into thirty-eight languages. Literary Hub, 27 Aug. 2025

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

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Cite this Entry

“Thirty-eight.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/thirty-eight. Accessed 1 Jan. 2026.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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