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Glite Dictionary
💵 A five-dollar note 🎲 A card with five 🌸 A white flower
five-spot

five-spot

1 7.8
A paper bill worth five dollars in the United States
  • noun
  • /faɪv spɑt/
  • Slang
translation icon : billete de cinco dólares
  • Can you lend me a five-spot until payday? I promise to pay you back.

Examples

  • -I need a five-spot.

    Malcolm X (1992)

  • Mank once bet me a five-spot to see how long it would take a falling leaf to hit the ground.

    Mank (2020)

  • He won a bet and received a five-spot as his prize.

  • I paid for my coffee with a five-spot from my wallet.

Synonyms

fiver
vsfive-spot
  • Informal
9 7.0

A banknote worth five pounds or five dollars

refers specifically to a US banknote worth five dollars
five dollar bill
vsfive-spot
  • US
4 1.0

A piece of United States paper money worth five dollars

is the same term expressed in an alternate form

Surface Forms

five-spot singular
five-spots plural

Morphology

five-spot = five + spot (semi-transparent) = five + spot

The compound is formed from 'five' + 'spot', but the slang sense 'five-dollar bill' is idiomatic and not directly inferable from 'spot' meaning 'mark' for many learners.

Etymology

Five-spot is a simple nickname made from five and spot, where spot means a small 'mark' or a short informal 'item'. People used this short name as slang for a bill worth 'five dollars', so calling a five-dollar note a five-spot is an easy, everyday way to say it.