Meaning of half-a-dozen | Babel Free

Definitions

Adjective. [C1]

Examples

“[P]ray, step down to the cellar and fetch⟳ us a bottle of the Burgundy, 1678—it is the fourth bin from the right-hand turn⟳—And I say⟳, Craigie—you may fetch⟳ up half-a-dozen whilst you are about it—Egad, we'll make⟳ a night on't.”

“[…] except about half-a-dozen which fell into the porritch-pot, which was on boiling at the time, were reduced to a heap of grey aizles.”

“He must do one of these two things: in the first case, his ministry may daunder on till there is another strike⟳ of half-a-dozen, like⟳ the present⟳; in the latter, it will be blown about his ears, from without.”

“He especially recommended the only shoemaker who, to his mind⟳, had an idea of making a shoe; and Lucy had at least half-a-dozen pair made, fitted, and descanted upon, before he was satisfied that they did justice to the shape⟳ of her foot, which proved extremely good when it was properly chaussé.”

“Obedient to this summons there ranged themselves in front of the schoolmaster's desk, half-a-dozen scarecrows, out at knees and elbows, one of whom placed a torn and filthy book beneath his learned eye.”

“But, now, the Bird of Paradise was seen to flutter down the middle; and the little bells began to bounce and jingle in poussette; and the Doctor's rosy face⟳ spun round and round, like⟳ an expressive peg-top highly varnished; and breathless Mr. Craggs began to doubt⟳ already, whether country dancing had been made 'too easy,' like⟳ the rest⟳ of life; and Mr. Snitchey, with his nimble cuts and capers, footed it for Self and Craggs, and half-a-dozen more.”

“half-a-dozen huge bread pills, dipped in a solution of aloes or cinnamon water, flavoured with assafœtida, which in the case of the dyspeptic rich often suffice [...].”

“Up jump⟳ half-a-dozen off the logs and baulkings, where they have⟳ been squatting, doubled up knee to nose, after the fashion of their class; and a volley of execrations, like⟳ a storm of grape, almost blows the two offenders off the wall.”

“And he would tell⟳ her all sorts of wonders, old-world gaieties, long before she was born; and how finely the great Mr. [George Frideric] Handel played upon the harpischord^([sic]) in the Music Hall, and how his talk⟳ was in German, Latin, French, English, Italian, and half-a-dozen languages beside, […]”

“Not without some difficulty, however: Cheret said he took as much killing as two lions or half-a-dozen boars.”

“Then there was a wild scuffle and a furious outcry, and all the bargemen for a moment seemed to hug me and themselves too; when, as there was no room to hit out, in the phraseology of the ring⟳, I fibbed at half-a-dozen waistcoats and faces with all my might and main.”

“Previous to their descent, I caught in all, not far from the tideway, about half-a-dozen finnocks, on two or three different occasions.”

“These vulgar drunkardesses are only fit themes for such papers as the Alliance News; and yet socially their degeneration may be productive of more harm⟳ than the demoralizing influence⟳ of half-a-dozen eau-de-cologne swillers in Mayfair or Belgravia.”

“If I were to order⟳ a small swarm of Ligurians, and on arrival give⟳ them half-a-dozen combfuls of brood, but clear of bees, from as many hives, of course they would do well;[…]”

“This was signed by Dana Da, who added pentacles and pentagrams, and a crux ansata, and half-a-dozen swastikas, and a Triple Tau to his name⟳, just to show⟳ that he was all he laid claim⟳ to be.”

“Look⟳ at them—scrutinise them, and see⟳ if every question⟳ of the day is not written there—written in indelible ink for future ages to read⟳. They are “writ large” in the faces of half-a-dozen of the foremost men, and repeated in text in the host⟳ of lesser men. Take⟳ those three photographs that are “placed in the line,” as it were—Lord Salisbury, Mr. Gladstone, and Mr. John Dillon. In that trio you have⟳ the whole of the Irish question⟳, from A to Z, and, if you throw⟳ in Mr. Parnell, with his smooth, mild, and inscrutable countenance, you have⟳ the “amparzand.””

“He went in a perisher last⟳ night, laying against Sir Tatton Sykes for the Derby with a half-a-dozen thousand pound notes in his hands, all of which he will lose⟳.”

“It was to the last⟳ class that [Stéphanie Félicité,] Madame [de Genlis] belongs, and perhaps her boast of her knowledge of half-a-dozen languages, and her proficiency on no fewer than nine instruments, among them what Victor Hugo called “the bug-pipes,” and of her acquaintance with field labour and gardening, may simply mean⟳ that she was Jill of all trades and mistress of none; […]”

“1894, Ivan Dexter, Talmud: A Strange Narrative of Central Australia, published in serial form⟳ in Port Adelaide News and Lefevre's Peninsula Advertiser (SA), Chapter XIV, http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks16/1600641.txt A rough coffin was made during the night and at the grave half-a-dozen of the line men with Strangway, Stanley, Talmud, the doctor and a couple of rouseabouts constituted the mourners.”

“Then, after an anonymous draughtsman, "M.S.R.," had appeared with a single cut⟳ ("Candles"), Mr. F. Wilfrid Lawson, the elder brother and teacher of Cecil Lawson, contributed a sheetful of initials and vignettes which dribbled forth in the paper up to 1876; and Mr. T. Walters, a half-a-dozen, up to 1875. Mr. E. J. Ellis, now better known in other fields than comic draughtsmanship, began on December 12th, 1867.”

“But even before he could do so, half-a-dozen black Somanlis, now eager for gain⟳, interposed their strong arms to prevent⟳ such culpable waste⟳ of good saleworthy slave stuff.”

“Now half-a-dozen more little pauper princelings and decadent dukelings are trying to trade⟳ their worthless coronets for American cash.”

“As for Will Deverill, less critical of Nature’s handicraft, he found the inns over-civilised; the Post⟳ and the Bräu were too fine for his taste⟳: they had come⟳ thus far in search⟳ of solitude and Alpine wilds, and they lighted instead on a sort⟳ of miniature Grindelwald, with half-a-dozen inns, a respectable café, experienced (or in other words extortionate) guides, and a regular tourist-trap for the sale of chamois-horns and carved models of châlets.”

“Theobald spoke as if watches had half-a-dozen purposes besides time-keeping, but he could hardly open⟳ his mouth without using one or other of his tags, and "answering every purpose" was one of them.”

“There were about half-a-dozen of them; Lane, the rowing blue, and a swine I know⟳ in Magdalen, and a couple of toothbrushless Taffies […]”

“Rumors, carefully and cleverly circulated by Mascodagama’s friends, diverted speculations toward his being a mysterious visitor from beyond the Golden Curtain, particularly since at least half-a-dozen members of a large Good-will Circus Company that had come⟳ from Tartary just then […] had already defected between France and England, somewhere in the newly constructed ‘Chunnel.’”

“It might be objected that the ratio depends on the exigencies of the drama, that e.g. short anapaestic passages of only half-a-dozen or so metra plus their paroemiac might be required in some plays, not in others, and thus lower the ratio for those plays.”

“During the original AWC^([Australian Wildlife Conservancy]) survey, Alexander Baynes identified, in a single hollow salmon gum, 283 jaws of half-a-dozen native mammal species, mostly dunnarts, many of which were recovered from owl pellets.”

“The good news is that £800 million is allocated to new rolling stock⟳, £200m for stations (including six new ones), and a further £736m to transform⟳ the Valley Lines, a network of half-a-dozen services that run⟳ up the valleys from Cardiff.”

CEFR level