baker's dozen
Syllables: bak·er's do·zenUK/ˌbeɪkəz ˈdʌzən/US/ˌbeɪkəɹz ˈdʌzən/
baker's dozen noun: thirteen; a group of thirteen.
Noun (1)
baker's dozen (plural baker's dozens or bakers' dozens)
- Thirteen; a group of thirteen.
- [L]et him caſt his Eye upon the laſt Page of that Book, where Mr. Blount has tranſlated a Quotation out of Scaliger de Emend. brought by the Author of the Præadamitæ; now he tranſlates Octingenties octagies, not eight hundred and eighty, but eight hundred and eightſcore; as if the Romans had uſed...1696, William Nicholls, “The Preface to the Reader”, in A Conference with a Theist. Wherein I. Are Shewn the Absurdities in the Pretended Eternity of the World. II. The Difficulties in the Mosaick...
- A Baker's Dozen, Treize dans la Douzaine.[1702, [Abel] Boyer, “A Baker’s Dozen”, in Dictionnaire Royal, François et Anglois. Le Francois Tiré des Dictionnaires de Richelet, Furetiere, Tachard, de l’Academie Françoise, & des Remarques de...
- Synonyms:
- devil's dozen, long dozen
- A cousin.
- "Before I agree to help you and your baker's dozen over there …" Rose nodded at Larry. / "It means cousin," Larry said. / "Before I say yes to helping, I would like a low-risk, up-front agreement."2015 February, Kevin Sylvester, Neil Flambé and the Bard’s Banquet (Neil Flambé Capers; 5), 1st paperback edition, New York, N.Y.: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, →ISBN, page 65
Noun (2) capitalized: Baker's Dozen
Baker's Dozen (uncountable)
baker's dozen meaning in Hindi
baker's dozen in Hindi
- group of thirteen
- नानबाई का दर्जन nānbāī kā darjan
Examples of baker's dozen in a sentence
- What! though by accident we've loſt / Of provinces a baker's dozen; / More bleſſings has our King produc'd, / By our good Queen his German couſin—1787 August, “Irregular Ode on His Majesty’s Birth Day”, in The Gentleman’s and London Magazine: Or, Monthly Chronologer, Dublin: Printed...
- So 13 items has become known as a baker's dozen. […] Today, some bakers still bake bread in "baker's dozens."2009, Tony Hyland, “A Baker’s Dozen”, in The Bread Book: Multiplying and Dividing (Mathematics Readers, Number and Operations; level 4)...
Synonyms of baker's dozen
Forms of baker's dozen
| plural | baker's dozens |
|---|---|
| plural | bakers' dozens |
Origin of baker's dozen
Possibly from the former practice of bakers adding a thirteenth loaf of bread to a batch of twelve loaves in order to avoid punishment for accidentally selling underweight bread.
Words that rhyme with baker's dozen
Questions about baker's dozen
- What does baker's dozen mean?
- Baker's dozen means thirteen; a group of thirteen.
- What is baker's dozen in Hindi?
- Baker's dozen in Hindi is नानबाई का दर्जन (nānbāī kā darjan). See Baker's dozen meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use baker's dozen in a sentence?
- What! though by accident we've loſt / Of provinces a baker's dozen; / More bleſſings has our King produc'd, / By our good Queen his German couſin—
- What part of speech is baker's dozen?
- Baker's dozen is a noun.
- How do you pronounce baker's dozen?
- Baker's dozen is pronounced /ˌbeɪkəz ˈdʌzən/ (UK).
- What is the plural of baker's dozen?
- The plural of baker's dozen is baker's dozens.
Words near baker's dozen in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: baker's dozen (page history and authors); Baker's Dozen (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-baker's dozen.ogg.
Cite this entry: “baker's dozen.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/baker%27s_dozen. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.