eight

 
Pronunciation: /eɪt/

cardinal number

  • equivalent to the product of two and four; one more than seven, or two less than ten; 8: a committee of eight members eight of them were unemployed eight were acquitted (Roman numeral: viii or VIII)
  • a group of eight people or things: the win placed Canada closer to the final eight
  • eight years old: children as young as eight
  • eight o’clock: the play is to begin at eight
  • a size of garment or other merchandise denoted by eight.
  • an eight-oared rowing boat or its crew.
  • a playing card with eight pips.

Phrases

have one over the eight

British informal have one drink too many.
[probably from the assumption that the average person can drink eight pints of beer without getting drunk]

Origin:

Old English ehta, eahta, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch and German acht, from an Indo-European root shared by Latin octo and Greek oktō