thirty

Pluralthirties

1. 1
   numeral

   The cardinal number that follows twenty-nine and precedes thirty-one, written as 30 in Arabic numerals.

   The recipe makes thirty cookies, enough to share with the whole class.

   He turned thirty at a quiet dinner with close friends.

   Note

   Literally "three tens": Old English þrītiġ goes back to a Germanic phrase built exactly that way, and the -ty ending is the "ten" part. The modern form also hides a sound swap. Middle English had thriti, with the r right after the th, and thirty is the variant in which the r and the vowel traded places. That swap is why the word no longer looks like three.

2. 2
   nouncountable

   A broadcast advertisement that runs for thirty seconds.

   We're running a thirty in prime time and a shorter spot online.

   The client approved two thirties for the fall campaign.

   Note

   Advertising shorthand names a spot by its length in seconds. Beside the thirty sits the longer sixty, which Jules Witcover's No Way to Pick a President (2014) notes costs twice as much. Both behave as ordinary count nouns: an advertiser buys thirties or runs a thirty in prime time. Outside media work, listeners may need the term explained.

3. 3
   nounslangcountable

   A rack of thirty cans of beer, sold as a single pack.

   He showed up to the party with a thirty under each arm.

   A couple of thirties should be plenty for the cookout.

   Note

   Slang that lets the number stand in for the whole package: you bring a thirty, or a couple of thirties, and everyone knows it means beer. It belongs to casual talk among friends and stays out of formal writing. Because the word says nothing about its contents, it works only where beer is already the topic. The advertising term relies on the same kind of shorthand.

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