Meaning of sixth in English:

sixth

Pronunciation /sɪk(s)θ/

Translate sixth into Spanish

ordinal number

1Constituting number six in a sequence; 6th.
‘her sixth novel’
- ‘the sixth of the month’
- ‘to the original five categories we add a sixth’
- ‘I had realised some time ago, after completing my sixth novel, The Juicy Beaks, that I wasn't much of a writer.’
- ‘In his sixth novel, Harvey layers narratives and characters on top of one another.’
- ‘In 1997, pneumonia and influenza constituted the sixth leading cause of death in the United States.’
- ‘She's married to another author and is working on her sixth novel.’
- ‘Pete Dexter's sixth novel, Train, begins slowly, for about the first 50 pages.’
- ‘Giants of the Frost, as well as being my sixth novel for adults and written under contract, is part of a doctoral research degree in creative writing.’
- ‘This month may become a tiring month for sixth graders of elementary schools as they have to take two consecutive examinations to graduate and become eligible for junior high school.’
- ‘Businesses cut jobs for the sixth month in a row.’
- ‘Despite the closure, Yunus said that classes had to continue because next month the sixth graders would have an examination.’
- ‘By the sixth month should any student wish to withdraw some cash from their account they can do so in the normal way from the credit union offices.’
- ‘After five days of sunshine at the beginning of the month, the sixth saw overcast skies and rain as the result of a trough of low pressure.’
- ‘The Nationwide Building Society has announced that house prices have remained stable for the sixth month in a row.’
- ‘She also told me that she is on a sixth month contract, and as such is not an employee.’
- ‘Eastwood is reckoned to be the sixth most Jewish constituency in the UK, with roughly 80% of the total population of Scotland's Jews.’
- ‘In July, payrolls fell for the sixth month in a row.’
- ‘The doctor said it would be sixth months after it's rebroken before I can ride again.’
- ‘Before his sixth month, he had learned to walk and speak.’
- ‘Days moved by quickly and pretty soon, Gillian reached her sixth month check up, which this time included an ultrasound.’
1. 1.1The sixth finisher or position in a race or competition.
  ‘he could only finish sixth’
  ‘He is in good position with a sixth overall and nine races to go.’
  ‘He is the only Cup driver who has finished every race and is in sixth place after finishing 20th Sunday at Dover.’
  ‘He said the players who went for last year's championship in Namibia complained that they could have finished better than sixth position had they been dressed properly.’
  ‘Maimbo Malako from Finish Line was in sixth position.’
  ‘But if we can finish around sixth position, it is good for the first year.’
  ‘Entering this season, Benson set a goal of finishing no worse than sixth in the points race.’
  ‘He rejoined the race in sixth place but fought back to finish in fifth place and had to settle for picking up championship points.’
  ‘Allan McNish finished the race in sixth place, thus scoring points for the second time in a row.’
  ‘Overall that season, he finished between fourth and sixth place in six races and ended up eighth in the World Championship standings.’
  ‘Some guys try to race you side by side for three or four laps, and they end up racing you for sixth place.’
  ‘Huddersfield, of course, can render both results meaningless if they themselves gain a victory and maintain their position in sixth place.’
  ‘She was sixth overall in this race last year as a first year intermediate so her prospects for this year's championships are excellent.’
  ‘Hewitt is sixth in the Champions Race that will produce the new number one for the year at the end of the season.’
  ‘Kenya have taken up the fourth place ahead of Zambia who are fifth while Malawi is in sixth position and Swaziland is placed seventh.’
  ‘Two hundred metres later, Mary crossed the finish line in sixth position, hardly a blip on the Olympic screen.’
  ‘The men's team defend the title they won on Tyneside, while the women look to improve on sixth position.’
  ‘His first full season at the helm was a rewarding experience as he led the Canaries to the play off finals after helping them to a sixth place finish.’
  ‘Tom Waddell, a 30-year-old army physician, comes sixth in the Olympic decathlon.’
  ‘Martina ran strongly to finish with silver and Sinead displayed great endurance as she battled to finish in sixth position.’
  ‘Dolphin had their share of problems last year before making a late surge and finishing in sixth position.’
2. 1.2mainly British The sixth form of a school or college.
  ‘the naughtiest girl in the sixth’
  ‘As he spoke, they cackled and jeered, like the lower sixth at some public school debate.’
  ‘The school allows pupils in the upper sixth to have one or two glasses of wine with a meal on a Saturday or Sunday.’
  ‘I was in the lower sixth at the time and, as a girl in a northern comprehensive, I was actively discouraged by my teachers from making an Oxford application.’
  ‘Boys and girls from the school's year 10 to the upper sixth were on the trip.’
  ‘Trident is employing sixth formers to clean the corridors in the schools where they are students.’
3. 1.3Sixthly (used to introduce a sixth point or reason)
  ‘sixth, given all the facts there is no logical reason why we can't make a decision’
4. 1.4Music An interval spanning six consecutive notes in a diatonic major or minor scale, e.g. C to A (major sixth) or A to F (minor sixth).
  ‘I only played three carefully considered notes with intuitive regard to choice of rhythm, tempo, dynamics - using a poignant interval, the minor sixth resolving to the perfect fifth.’
  ‘Practicing fourths and consecutive sevenths challenges the ear in ways that sixths and thirds don't, in addition to enhancing hand stability.’
  ‘After 2 bars piano chords come in, which will form the basis of the verse and chorus melody; these sound like minor sixths a step or so apart.’
5. 1.5Music The note which is higher by a sixth than the tonic of a scale or root of a chord.
2Each of six equal parts into which something is or may be divided.
‘a sixth of the total population’
- ‘Trim off the tough outer stems and stalk of the fennel, then cut each bulb in half and each half into sixths.’
- ‘Electronics giant Siemens, for example, employs 70,000 people in the U.S., nearly a sixth of total staff.’
- ‘Cut the tomatoes into quarters or sixths depending on size.’
- ‘Approximately one sixth of the population is thought to be working in the black market.’
- ‘Less than one sixth of the population are natives of the principality.’
- ‘Nearly one sixth of the U.S. population lacks health insurance, including about 44 % of poor people.’