999

UK/naɪn.naɪn.naɪn/UK/trɪpəl.naɪn/UK/naɪnz/

proper noun

The telephone number for emergency services in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Hong Kong, Macau, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Burma, Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE, Kenya, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Ghana, Sudan, South Sudan, Sierra Leone, Guyana, Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent, Dominica, Kiribati, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, and the Seychelles.

“When you call 999 in the UK, the operator usually answers the phone with "Emergency. Which service?"”

Meanings

proper noun

alternative nine nine nine · alternative triple nine

  1. The telephone number for emergency services in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Hong Kong, Macau, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Burma, Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE, Kenya, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Ghana, Sudan, South Sudan, Sierra Leone, Guyana, Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent, Dominica, Kiribati, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, and the Seychelles.

    When you call 999 in the UK, the operator usually answers the phone with "Emergency. Which service?"

    1 more example

    I don't know why they couldn't just keep it as it was! How hard is it to remember 911? You mean 999... I mean 999! That's the American one! Yeah!

    2006 Feb. 3, Graham Linehan, The IT Crowd, Season 1, Episode 2
  2. The telephone number for ambulance services in Poland.
noun999 (uncountable)

alternative nine nine nine · alternative triple nine

  1. Hong KongIrelandSingaporeUKcolloquialmetonymicallyuncountableEmergency services; emergency service personnel.

Origin

Established in the United Kingdom as the first emergency service number in the world, initially chosen because of its suitability at a time of rotary-dial telephones.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

999. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/999

MLA

“999.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/999. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “999,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/999.

Source: 999 on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.