thirty-eight

noun

thir·​ty-eight ˌthər-tē-ˈāt 

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

In a recent survey of local election officials, thirty-eight percent reported fearing for the safety of their colleagues. —Katie Waldo, Forbes, 4 Nov. 2024

The district was far smaller than Rochester, with some thirty-eight hundred students, more than seventy per cent of them white, but the job paid nearly as much. —Alec MacGillis, The New Yorker, 26 Aug. 2024

That ended up being a few months, and now it’s been thirty-eight years. —Stephania Taladrid, The New Yorker, 17 Aug. 2024

The Reds’ immediate future will rely heavily on the All-Star shortstop Elly de la Cruz, who has emerged in his first full season as the most exciting player in baseball, just as Davis did thirty-eight summers ago. —Brandon Harris, The New Yorker, 7 Aug. 2024

After the Hamas attacks of October 7th, Israel began its military campaign in the Gaza Strip, where more than thirty-eight thousand Palestinians have been killed. —Isaac Chotiner, The New Yorker, 2 July 2024

Much has changed in the Church’s approach in the thirty-eight years since. —Paul Elie, The New Yorker, 13 Apr. 2024

Though only thirty-eight years old, Gaetz, the scion of a political family in Florida’s Panhandle, had become one of the Republican Party’s most prominent and divisive figures. —Dexter Filkins, The New Yorker, 19 Feb. 2024

That share fell to thirty-eight per cent in August, 2022, the last time the center collected responses. —Michael Luo, The New Yorker, 13 Dec. 2023

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1541, in the meaning defined at sense 1