eighty-six

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English

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English numbers (edit)
 ←  85 86 87  → 
    Cardinal: eighty-six
    Ordinal: eighty-sixth
    Adverbial: eighty-six times

Etymology 1

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Numeral

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eighty-six

  1. The cardinal number immediately following eighty-five and preceding eighty-seven.
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Etymology 2

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Unknown for certain. Possibly rhyming slang for nix (cancel, say no to) (given by the OED), or possibly part of a code of such numbers created in the 1920s. See also: Wikipedia:86 (term)

Verb

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eighty-six (third-person singular simple present eighty-sixes, present participle eighty-sixing, simple past and past participle eighty-sixed)

  1. (colloquial) To cancel an order for food.
    Eighty-six the ham and eggs for table two!
  2. (colloquial) To remove an item from the menu.
    Eighty-six the lobster bisque - we won't have the lobster delivery until tomorrow.
    "Yes, I'd like the tomato soup." / "I'm sorry sir, that's been eighty-sixed - would you like a salad instead?"
  3. (colloquial) To remove or eject, as a disruptive customer.
    Ryan and his friends got too rowdy at the bar, so they were eighty-sixed.
  4. (colloquial) To throw out; to discard.
    We finally had to eighty-six that old printer after it jammed one too many times.
    • 2007 January, MacAddict, page 25:
      ...Apple eighty-sixed all of its paid moderators...
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References

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