eleventeen

English[edit]

eleventeen

(nonce word) Twenty-one (21).
- 1600s, Wither, Weakness:
  Many giglets I have married seen / Ere they forsooth could reach eleventeen.
(colloquial) A relatively large number, not precisely specified.
- 1919, Sinclair Lewis, Free Air:
  "He fitted about eleventeen thousand people last year."
- 2001, Rick D. Ellison, Gamble to Win: Craps:
  Trust me, I've checked every angle and analyzed a zillion options eleventeen different ways.
- 2004, Brooks Peterson, Cultural Intelligence: A Guide to Working with People from Other Cultures:
  I can make the locals laugh at my attempts in a few other languages, such as Swedish, but I'm certainly not like the average European who seems to speak "eleventeen" languages
(colloquial) A nonsense number.
- 1988 January 6, Bill Watterson, Calvin and Hobbes:
  Hobbes: Ooh, that's a tricky one. You have to use calculus and imaginary numbers for this.
  Calvin: Imaginary numbers?!
  Hobbes: You know, eleventeen, thirty-twelve, all those.