twenty-one

noun

twen·​ty-one ˌtwen-tē-ˈwən How to pronounce twenty-one (audio)
ˌtwən-
1
: a number that is one more than 20 see Table of Numbers
2
[translation of French vingt-et-un] : blackjack sense 1
twenty-one adjective
twenty-one pronoun, plural in construction

Examples of twenty-one in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web And, at the request of the attorney general’s office, the same judge who had authorized the arrest warrants days earlier now rescinded twenty-one of them, including the ones for the state attorney general and the judge in Chilpancingo. Alma Guillermoprieto, The New Yorker, 4 Mar. 2024 Souths, as the Rabbitohs are often referred to, are perhaps the competition’s most historic team with twenty-one titles. Vitas Carosella, Forbes, 29 Feb. 2024 Even with this limited repertoire, your new backup chef can prepare dinner one night every week, with twenty-one days between repeat dishes. Kyle Austin Young, Forbes, 15 Feb. 2024 When Akbar was twenty-one, he was installed as its general manager. Patrick Radden Keefe, The New Yorker, 5 Feb. 2024 In the spring of 2014, after Melanie, who was twenty-one, stopped visiting or responding to text messages, Melissa, who was eighteen, and her mother went to the police in Farmington to report her missing. Rachel Monroe, The New Yorker, 1 Feb. 2024 The actor and producer Nicole Stéphane spent twenty-one years trying to find a director to take him on. Christine Smallwood, The New York Review of Books, 18 Jan. 2024 Hundreds of thousands have died, more than four million people have been displaced, and twenty-one million are dependent on humanitarian aid to survive. Robin Wright, The New Yorker, 17 Jan. 2024 In 2021, according to data obtained by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, less than one per cent of abortions occurred at or after twenty-one weeks. Stephania Taladrid, The New Yorker, 8 Jan. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'twenty-one.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1611, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of twenty-one was circa 1611

Dictionary Entries Near twenty-one

Cite this Entry

“Twenty-one.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/twenty-one. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

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