half a dozen

See also: half-a-dozen

English

Alternative forms

• half-a-dozen

Numeral

half a dozen

1. Six (6); often used approximatively.
   • 1927, F. E. Penny, chapter 5, in Pulling the Strings:

     Anstruther laughed good-naturedly. “[…] I shall take out half a dozen intelligent maistries from our Press and get them to give our villagers instruction when they begin work and when they are in the fields.”

   • 2019 December 18, Christian Wolmar, “Overdue investment and a better deal for Welsh railways”, in Rail, page 54:

     The good news is that £800 million is allocated to new rolling stock, £200m for stations (including six new ones), and a further £736m to transform the Valley Lines, a network of half-a-dozen services that run up the valleys from Cardiff.

2. (bingo) six

Synonyms

• half dozen

Derived terms

• six of one, half a dozen of the other

Translations

six

• Belarusian: паўту́зіна (paŭtúzina)
• Catalan: mitja dotzena f
• Finnish: puoli tusinaa
• French: demi-douzaine (fr) f
• German: halbes Dutzend n
• Malay: setengah dozen
• Portuguese: meia dúzia (pt), meia (pt)
• Russian: полдю́жины (ru) (poldjúžiny)
• Swedish: halvdussin (sv) n
• Ukrainian: півдю́жини (pivdjúžyny), пів дю́жини (piv djúžyny)