baker's half dozen

8.2

A group of seven items, often baked goods

noun
/ˈbeɪkərz hæf ˈdʌzən/

: media docena del panadero

For the school bake sale, she brought in a baker's half dozen cupcakes.

Examples

The recipe made exactly a baker's half dozen chocolate chip cookies.
He asked for a baker's half dozen bagels from the local bakery.
I bought a baker's half dozen of cookies.
She always orders a baker's half dozen of bagels.
For the school bake sale, she brought in a baker's half dozen cupcakes.
He asked for a baker's half dozen bagels from the local bakery.
The recipe made exactly a baker's half dozen chocolate chip cookies.

Surface Forms

baker's half dozen singular

baker's half dozens plural

Morphology

baker's + half + dozen

The literal parts ('half dozen' = six and 'baker's' = belonging to a baker) do not yield the MWE meaning of seven items; nothing in the constituent meanings signals the extra item. This is a culturally grounded, usage-based extension (bakers traditionally giving an extra) that is unpredictable from the words alone, so learners must have prior exposure to understand it.

Etymology

Baker's half dozen may come from a simple bakery habit. Bakers would add one extra item when someone bought a half dozen as a small gift. That's why a baker's half dozen means 'seven'.