Meaning of sweet sixteen | Babel Free

Definitions

1. The sixteen teams participating in the regional semifinals of the NCAA Division I tournament, one of whom will become the national champion.
   US, informal
2. A girl's sixteenth birthday, or sixteenth-birthday party and a related coming of age party.
   US, informal
3. The round of the NCAA Division I basketball tournament where all but 16 teams have been eliminated.
   US, informal
4. Sixteen.
5. An appearance in the Sweet Sixteen.
   US, informal

Examples

“But one tradition associated with the age hangs on: the Sweet Sixteen celebration. Symptomatic of at least a partial swing away from counterculture sentiments, the Sweet Sixteen party—relatively dormant during the anti‐Establishment turmoil of the late 60's and early 70's—is becoming popular again as a way of marking the 16th birthday.”

“The new coach has just led the Nimrods to their first Sweet Sixteen.”

CEFR level