Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The cardinal number forty-two.
  • proper noun Alternative form of Texas 42.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective being two more than forty

Etymologies

Sorry, no etymologies found.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word 42.

Examples

    Sorry, no example sentences found.

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • Not a strictly word, more of a visual representation of a concept. Now... what was the definition of word again? ;-)

    December 16, 2006

  • What do you get when you multiply nine by six?

    December 16, 2006

  • I knew there was something fundementally wrong with the universe. ;-)

    December 17, 2006

  • How old Dara Torres will be next year! I can hardly wait!

    Were you aware that she's 41 now??!!

    August 18, 2008

  • Skipvia, we've been having a lot of fun with the Olympics commentators (and using DVR to get through the HOURS of ENDLESS interviews with the SAME PEOPLE over and over) by stealing their conversation.

    Today, for example, we're asking everyone we know if they were aware that when horses have to jump over water, it's tricky gate placement to have a turn before it. There's no way to build up momentum. They only have six or seven strides to build up momentum and get over that water, which is 13.75 feet across. Did you know they have trouble building momentum when there's a turn before that gate? Also, did you know if their feet touch the water OR the white tape, it's the same deduction? It's unfortunate because they really have trouble building momentum before that water jump when there's a turn right before it. That's tricky placement, before a water gate, to put a turn there.

    They have trouble building momentum.

    (Etc.)

    In other news, What?! She's 41?!

    August 18, 2008

  • Boy, that's tricky placement.

    Did you know that Dara Torres is 41?

    August 18, 2008

  • When she turns 42, she's going to have a lot of trouble building momentum. Especially if there's a gate involved, because it's the same deduction no matter where her feet fall in the water.

    August 18, 2008

  • Right. Because she only has six or seven strides to build up momentum and get over that age.

    August 18, 2008

  • And there's a turn right before it.

    August 18, 2008

  • Especially if there's a gate involved.

    August 18, 2008

  • What's that about horses having 13 feet? I'm getting lost here.

    August 19, 2008

  • Okay, let's take it slowly.

    1. Dara Torres is 41.

    2. Horses have to jump over water.

    3. Gates are tricky.

    4. You can't build up momentum.

    5. Water is 13.75 feet across.

    6. The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plains.

    7. You still can't build up momentum.

    8. Six or seven strides make you turn 42.

    9. If you turn on a gate, you'll be in trouble.

    10. Never let your feet touch water.

    11. You are not building up momentum.

    12. Plinth.

    That should clear it up.

    August 19, 2008

  • But ... where do pineapples come into it?

    August 19, 2008

  • *sigh* Chained_bear?

    August 19, 2008

  • No pineapples until they're 41.

    August 19, 2008

  • Thank you. Clear as a bell, bilby; see?

    August 19, 2008

  • awright, now I'm confused. What bell?

    August 19, 2008

  • Why, the bell next to the gate, of course. Over the pineapple.

    August 19, 2008

  • oh, well, sure… *beats a hasty retreat* **retreat whimpers quietly**

    August 19, 2008

  • Hey, did anyone know that Dara Torres is 41 years old?!

    August 20, 2008

  • Really? That's tricky.

    August 20, 2008

  • I've got it! 42 is six times water squid divided by the square root of voraciousness, with pineapple sauce. You know it's ready when Dara rings the bell and small horse bubbles rise to the surface.

    August 20, 2008

  • Bilby By George, she's got it! By George, she's got it!

    Now, once again where does it rain?

    August 20, 2008

  • I hate to say it, bilby, but that's not entirely accurate. 42 is, in fact, six times water squid divided by the square root of voraciousness, with pineapple sauce. However, if you haven't taken into account the turn before the gate and the fact that your feet touched the white tape, then I'm afraid the horse bubbles will never rise to the surface.

    So close, though....

    August 20, 2008

  • Damn! I might have left the gate open.

    August 20, 2008

  • That must have been it. Hey, it happens.

    But did you know that Darra Torres will be 42 next year?

    August 20, 2008

  • Who's this Torres anyway?

    August 20, 2008

  • Ask skipvia.

    August 20, 2008

  • 42 also refers to an incredibly stupid and overrated word (number? who knows--I am blinded, at this stage, by the brilliance of the contributors to this list who go on and on ad nauseam) on Wordie that is being perpetuated by folks who really do have better words, ideas, and thoughts to add. I could scream, from boredom, at "42." Better idea--I shall get Edvard Munch to do a visual depiction of myself screaming at 42.

    August 21, 2008

  • :::-<(88oox23456789}ugh bop boop <---- snargling at 42.

    Down with 42 !!

    August 21, 2008

  • Logos, if you don't like our comments, you really don't have to read them. You also don't have to be insulting. I'd greatly appreciate if you could be a bit more considerate, as we've tried to be with you. Thanks.

    August 21, 2008

  • And I will read and write what I please. And you do not have to read what I write, either, my friend. Your love affair with 42 is one of the stupider items on this site, thank you.

    August 21, 2008

  • My new name will be, perhaps, "not_42."

    August 21, 2008

  • Frankly, I don't understand why you need to be so nasty. But I guess it's a big world, and Wordie welcomes all types...so have fun. I sure hope you don't run into any more stupidity here.

    August 21, 2008

  • God, you're omnimpotent. Logof, logos, and don't logon again 'til you've developed some understanding.

    August 21, 2008

  • Hey logos, who died & made you the f.....g editor/owner of this site?

    August 21, 2008

  • Logos, I agree that we should be able to express our distaste for a word — but, in keeping with the spirit of Wordie, it's reasonable to expect we do this tactfully, without stooping to personal insults. (And, while I can't speak for the lists, it's worth noting that the bulk of these comments have nothing to do with 42.)

    August 21, 2008

  • Not dead yet. Logos, quit being a douchebag or I'll delete your account.

    August 21, 2008

  • Zmays! Here's something that's gotten all out of hand! Let's all cool a bit, somewhere to the level of a Bose-Einstein condensate. I'm sure logos realises he was out of line, so let's not get anthropoctonous about this. If we all consider the matter with sagacity and not fractiousness, there will be no need for Schadenfreude to be added to my list

    Let us neither traduce one another nor palliate the offense. Logos, I would urge you to apologise...you've used heavy words for just a spot of silliness (and silliness is quite common to this place). But some of you others also came down really hard on him, when you could have gone about this whole business with civility instead of ignivomous histrionics and fescennine hadeharia. At any rate, I shall be quite lugubrious if anyone has to leave over this.

    August 21, 2008

  • Thanks Milos. Speaking of the bose-einstein condensate, I've managed to cool most of my bosons. By the way, absolute zero is one of my favorite habitats.

    August 21, 2008

  • By the way, Dara Torres will be 42 next year. Isn't that a coincidence?

    August 21, 2008

  • People were trying to be reasonable & civil, but logos wasn't listening, Milos. Logos lists words like snargle then trashes someone else's listing as being stupid. Give me a break.

    August 21, 2008

  • As I said, it looks like something that started light-hearted and which he proceeded to get touchy over. I've been known to get shirty, especially over the internet, over things that I shouldn't have, and once I cooled down and apologised everything was fine. But contumely tends towards aggravation rather than amelioration. All I'm sayin'.

    August 21, 2008

  • I tend to go off the deep-end too Milos. Your points are generally well-taken.

    August 21, 2008

  • Yeah, Prolagus, I just heard about that.

    When Dara Torres turns 42 next year, she's going to have a lot of trouble building momentum.

    August 21, 2008

  • I've ruined it now, but:

    August 21, 2008

  • Well, maybe we'll pass it again on the way back down.

    August 21, 2008

  • I liked your perspective and attitude Milos - my hat's off to you (& she also)!

    August 21, 2008

  • She, do you often destroy that which you admire?

    August 21, 2008

  • She, thanks for posting that! I noticed it too. Tee hee!

    August 21, 2008

  • bilby,

    I hope she doesn't since she is apparently a fan of Wordie...

    August 21, 2008

  • I just want everyone to know that I like pineapples.

    August 21, 2008

  • You guys win ! I am leaving the site. I may log on to increase my vocabulary. You folks are way too touchy and thin-skinned. I thought I had a 1st Amendment right to say what I believed but if you guys believe in rose-colored thinking and censoring, be my guest. I have never felt compelled to go along with something I thought was silly and ridiculous. After all we are strangers here. I am never offended by what a stranger thinks.

    August 21, 2008

  • HA HA HA HA!!! Reesetee, you're a stitch!

    Did you all hear that Michael Phelps won 42 gold medals? That's such a weird coincidence, isn't it?

    August 21, 2008

  • See also 7457.

    Yellow.

    August 21, 2008

  • No, it was 41. He'll win 42 next year.

    Logos, no-one has asked you to 'go along with something', or censored you, or demanded you to shut up, other than to point out that one of your comments was (considered) nasty. All multi-user forums require a certain amount of civility; it is this that is requested of you. There are plenty of serious conversations around here, notably offset by the goofy ones. If you are needing something less silly by all means start off a conversation with an insightful comment and see where it goes. You jumped into 42 with a sledgehammer when others were pretty obviously enjoying the banter, so the reaction doesn't surprise me. I don't particularly want to see you go. People use Wordie in different ways and it can take some time to work what it is (and what it isn't). Please don't take offence ... in the end this site is more about love of words than egos, so perhaps keep that in mind. Cheers.

    August 21, 2008

  • I never liked 42 before, but I'm starting to take a shine to it.

    Plinth.

    August 21, 2008

  • Dodged a bullet on that o--- no! ouch!

    Must be the shine of all those gold medals. I am going to go compose an ode in elegiac couplets.

    August 21, 2008

  • I remember reading two Douglas Adams books when I was about 10 and being charmed by the silliness. But when I went back to try re-reading them at age 17, I was completely nauseated. Clearly I'm a pretentious snob, 'cause while I'd admit that there's some pretty hilarious jokes and ideas in HHGTTG, the writing style--the art of it--may possibily be one of the worst I can think of.

    August 21, 2008

  • My apologies to all concerning the late unpleasantness I caused over this number. I appreciate all the nice sentiments. I love this site too much to ever leave it!

    Mr. Logos

    August 22, 2008

  • Mmm. Just read your post, exactly 42 minutes after you logged it, logos. So let's heal. Welcome back. Hope your understanding of the wonderful world of Wordie continues to grow, and please you.

    Why not slide over to The Verbal Arms and buy us all a drink? Mine would be a grammartini.

    August 22, 2008

  • Thank you, I love a cool beverage in the heat of summer.

    August 22, 2008

  • Haha! Yes, bilby, I cannot comment, for fear of what might happen to Wordie. (Never invite me over, John, for safety's sake— All would be well, until I'm gnawing on the cables or something)

    August 22, 2008

  • Of course!

    42! Yeta, 'scaramouche' thus zaebos; papa wrbl - "national cupcake day". Mace capuchon?

    At this moment in commented mostest solely, though.

    August 22, 2008

  • In fact, there are 42 letters in the top ten most wordied! (Take that statement how you want.)

    August 22, 2008

  • And don't forget Dara Torres will be 42 next year.

    August 22, 2008

  • Dara Torres was conceived 42 years ago.

    August 22, 2008

  • Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.

    August 22, 2008

  • 2 add 2 makes 42 acorns. They weren't pineapples. These days they are referred to as pineapples but when they were crafted in England in the 15th and 16th centuries pineapples weren't invented so to get round the problem designers modelled them on acorns.

    August 22, 2008

  • Being or denoting a numerical quantity but not order.

    August 22, 2008

  • Isn't this the answer to life, the universe and everything?

    August 22, 2008

  • But what exactly is the question?

    August 22, 2008

  • But plethora, you are the Mistress-Oracle of Eternal Questions!

    August 22, 2008

  • Paris Hilton Returned by Aliens.

    August 22, 2008

  • It took seven and a half million years to come up with the answer. You can't just expect me to know the question off the top of my head!

    August 22, 2008

  • Possibly 'What's the meaning of this?'.

    August 22, 2008

  • quarante-deux in French

    August 22, 2008

  • BTW, I love the definition of this - "being two more than forty", why not say "Being forty-one more than one" or "being twenty two more than twenty"? :)

    August 24, 2008

  • I love this ad:

    Dara Torres

    Get The Latest Updates on Dara Torres in Beijing w/ Sports Toolbar

    August 24, 2008

  • Ha!

    August 24, 2008

  • Did I miss the Dara Torres Closing Ceremony?

    August 25, 2008

  • Only if you have a lot of trouble building momentum.

    August 25, 2008

  • When, someday soon, I hear completely by chance on the news that "Today is Olympic swimmer Dara Torres' birthday. She is 42," I will have to pull my car off to the side of the road and laugh my ass off.

    October 17, 2008

  • c_b - Well, OK - but be sure you're not in the process of building momentum when you pull over. Oh, and watch that turn off the road, it can be tricky...

    October 17, 2008

  • life + the universe + everything = 42

    October 17, 2008

  • Answer to any question of which you don't know the answer.

    February 28, 2009

  • I prefer splunge.

    February 28, 2009

  • *hands out party hats*

    April 4, 2009

  • *ass falls off*

    April 4, 2009

  • *laughs ass off at c_b's ass falling off*

    April 4, 2009

  • I see that there are only 12 days left. (Wordies, please! Try to control your asses!)

    April 4, 2009

  • *clenches*

    April 4, 2009

  • It's no use. I can't find it with both hands. If only I could build up some momentum...

    April 4, 2009

  • Be careful going around that turn, c_b. The water is 13.75ft across, y'know.

    April 4, 2009

  • Yeah, and if my ass touches that white tape, it's the same deduction.

    April 4, 2009

  • That's tricky, particularly considering the placement of the gate.

    April 4, 2009

  • What if your ass falls in the water?

    April 4, 2009

  • You could get red-brown butt rot.

    April 4, 2009

  • *freaks out at the thought*

    April 5, 2009

  • *wonders if Dara Torres will ever find this page*

    April 6, 2009

  • This page is one of the first google search results for are Paris Hilton and Dara Torres aliens?. No joke.

    April 6, 2009

  • Then we've done our job.

    *dusts off hands*

    April 6, 2009

  • HA HA!! Dairy Torres.

    May 30, 2009

  • Ewww.

    May 30, 2009

  • Heehee!

    June 3, 2009

  • after reading through all the comments on 42- I conclude that I would very much like to have a wordie dinner party... I feel as if I have met my long lost siblings.... :)

    June 20, 2009

  • I assure you, I knew nothing about this discussion when I created my username, and I am NOT Dara Torres.

    June 20, 2009

  • This is exactly what Dara Torres would say. Confess!

    June 20, 2009

  • I am not Dara Torres!

    June 21, 2009

  • Happy birthday anyway, Dara.

    June 21, 2009

  • Awww, I didn't get her anything.

    June 22, 2009

  • Dontworry, dontcry. Just remember to build momentum after the turn before the gate and not land in the water. That's all Dara wants. Did you know she's 42?

    June 22, 2009

  • Would Dara let go the painters, after removing off the craudestoppers?

    June 22, 2009

  • All that and lover the lifeboat, I imagine, Pro.

    June 22, 2009

  • Wow, Dora is two more than forty! Time sure goes by up the Jacobs ladder at to the level.

    June 22, 2009

  • HA!

    June 24, 2009

  • Not if your feet don't touch the white tape.

    July 7, 2009

  • Wait...

    October 5, 2009

  • I knew it!

    October 5, 2009

  • *snort*

    October 5, 2009

  • Last time I checked, this was Dara Torres's age. Is there any way to contact her before she turns 43 and spoils everything?

    January 30, 2010

  • Hey! Hey! Skipvia, the Olympics are coming up again!!! *nearly hysterical with excitement*

    January 30, 2010

  • Aaaacckk! She'll be *gulp* 43 on April 15th. Get busy.

    January 30, 2010

  • I already have the party hats.

    *wishes we could see all the old comments from this page...well, maybe not all of them*

    January 30, 2010

  • See also illude.

    May 11, 2010

  • Happy Towel Day!

    May 25, 2011

  • "While in London, Torres, 45, will make appearances as a global ambassador for McDonald's "Champions of Play" program."

    Dara Torres is 45? I thought she was 42. She must have built up some momentum.

    July 28, 2012

  • 45? Never!!?

    July 29, 2012

  • Did you know that a few years ago, Dara Torres was 42? Did you also know that as soon as her name is mentioned my brain builds up momentum and brings me right back to this page without my feet touching the white tape?

    August 24, 2012

  • Plinth!

    August 24, 2012

  • I find it amusing that some of the earliest comments seem to be missing--does anyone remember how the whole Dara Torres Olympic horse jumping momentum started to build? Did it have something to do with skipvia and priapic elves?

    March 1, 2015