noun
nines
noun
1
A pair of playing cards or dice both showing the value nine.
"He won the hand with a pair of nines."
"She was dealt nines on the first two cards."
2
The number of nines in a decimal figure used to describe how pure or reliable something is (e.g. "three nines" = 99.9%).
"The alloy is refined to four nines purity."
"The data centre promises five nines of uptime."
How to Use Nines
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishEither a pair of cards/dice showing nine, or a way of describing purity/reliability by counting how many 9s are in the percentage.
Memory tip
In tech and manufacturing, "nines" almost always refers to that purity/uptime scale — "five nines" means 99.999%.
Common pairings
five nines
four nines purity
dressed to the nines
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Fill the Gap
Can you complete this real example?
He won the hand with a pair of _____.