Meanings
121
122
plural 12s
- abbreviationclippingcountableuncountablehobbiesClipping of 1260 (“1260° spin”)
123
- hobbiesUsed by fans of American football, positioning themselves as the 12th member of an 11-player team.
124
- The Aryan Brotherhood: an American white supremacist, neo-Nazi prison gang and crime syndicate.
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
12 · noun
Of uncertain origin. Widespread use of the phrase as an anti-police slogan grew following the 2014 killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. * Possibly from 1312, an alternative form of ACAB (“all cops are bastards”) in which the letters are substituted with their position in the alphabet. * Alternatively, from the American police procedural television series Adam-12 (1968–1975), in which 1-Adam-12 refers to a patrol unit and its radio call sign. Likely popularized by "F*ck 12", a song by American hip-hop group Migos from their 2013 mixtape Y.R.N. (Young Rich Niggas), which uses 12 in reference to the police while describing a narcotics raid: “12 kickin' in my front door […] 12 in my home, they won't leave me alone”.
Full word history & related roots →12 · symbol
The alphanumeric code for AB, an initialism for the Aryan Brotherhood.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
12. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/12
“12.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/12. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “12,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/12.
Source: 12 on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.