number two

1. USnot comparablegovernmentWhite, Caucasian.

plural number twos

1. childishcountableeuphemisticuncountableusuallyFeces; the act of defecation.

   I need to go number two.

   1 more example

   He might have got up, without the bell's sounding, to do his number one, or number two, in his great big white chamber-pot.

   1953, Samuel Beckett, Watt, [Paris]: Olympia Press, →OCLC

   Synonyms: feces, defecation

2. countableslanguncountablenauticalA first mate.
3. countableuncountableA primary assistant; vice-leader.

   After she had shown great promise over the last 10 years, he made her his number two.

4. countableuncountableball gamesThe batsman who opens alongside the number one, but does not face the first delivery.
5. countableuncountableball gamesA backup player, especially a goalkeeper.

   Head coach Ruben Amorim will be asked by media on Wednesday who will start in goal for their crucial Europa League quarter-final with Lyon, Onana or United's latest scapegoat, number two Altay Bayindir.

   2025 April 15, Simon Stone, “Why Amorim's next move on Onana is a big call”, in BBC Sport

6. countableuncountableball gamesA right back.

   I came down here to cement the number two position, the right back role and I’ve not really managed to do that.

   2015 December 30, Mike Simmonds, quoting Stephen O’Donnell, “O’Donnell wants to make right back slot his own”, in Luton Today

7. countableuncountableentertainmentA somewhat small town, between a number one and a number three, where the success of a theatrical performance is unlikely to be very great.
8. countableuncountableA pencil with hardness level 2.

   I reach into my bag, pull out my pencil case, and offer Jason one of my fully sharpened number twos.

   2012, Lauren Morrill, Meant to Be, Delacorte Press, →ISBN, page 108

   2 more examples

   They say you should be able to slip a pencil under your boob and if it doesn’t fall out, you’re too saggy. Shit, I could stick a whole box of number twos under these girls and keep them there until next semester.

   2012, Sandra Kring, A Life of Bright Ideas, Bantam Books, →ISBN, page 287

   “I’ll need pencils, preferably number twos,” I told Miss Rose, who, for some reason, had not budged.

   2015, Sheila Turnage, “Friday Night Miracle”, in The Odds of Getting Even, Kathy Dawson Books, →ISBN, page 234

9. Philippinescountableuncountablemistress (the other woman in an extramarital relationship, generally including sexual relations)
10. countableuncountableUsed other than figuratively or idiomatically: see number, two.