English

Alternative forms

• aught (Scotland, archaic, rare)
• Western (Arabic) numerals: 8
• Roman numerals: VIII

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) enPR: āt, IPA^(key): /eɪt/
• Rhymes: -eɪt
• Homophone: ate

Numeral

eight

1. (cardinal) A numerical value equal to 8; the number occurring after seven and before nine.

   He works eight hours a day.

   • 2009, Stuart Heritage, Hecklerspray, Friday the 22nd of May in 2009 at 1 o’clock p.m., “Jon & Kate Latest: People You Don’t Know Do Crap You Don’t Care About”

     Jon & Kate Plus 8 is a show based on two facts: 1) Jon and Kate Gosselin have eight children, and 2) the word ‘Kate’ rhymes with the word ‘eight’. One suspects that if Kate were ever to have another child, a shady network executive would urge her to put it in a binbag with a brick and drop it down a well. But this is just a horrifying tangent.

2. Describing a set or group with eight components.

Related terms

• eighth

Translations

See also

• Table of cardinal numbers 0 to 9 in various languages

Noun

eight ‎(plural eights)

1. The digit/figure 8.
2. (playing cards) Any of the four cards in a normal deck with the value eight.
3. (nautical) A light, narrow rowing boat, especially one used in competitive rowing, steered by a cox, in which eight rowers each have two oars.
4. (rowing, especially in plural) A race in which such craft participate.

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• section 8

Playing cards in English · playing cards (layout · text)
ace	deuce, two	three	four	five	six	seven
eight	nine	ten	jack	queen	king	joker

Etymology 2

See ait.

Noun

eight ‎(plural eights)

1. An island in a river; an ait.
   • Evelyn

     osiers on their eights

Statistics

Yola

Verb

eight

1. to eat

References

• J. Poole W. Barnes, A Glossary, with Some Pieces of Verse, of the Old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy (1867)