x

uppercase X · plural xs · plural x's

1. letterlowercaseThe twenty-fourth letter of the English alphabet, called ex and written in the Latin script.
2. letterlowercaseForming gender-neutral or otherwise more inclusive versions of words, especially Spanish-derived words by replacing both the masculine -o and feminine -a.

   alumnx, Chicanx (Xicanx), Filipinx, Latinx, Mx, mxn, Tejanx, womxn

1. not comparableAlternative letter-case form of X (“intersex or non-binary (in passports and identification documents)”).

1. humoroussometimesAn unknown or unspecified number of.

   David Cameron gives a Commons statement after every EU summit and normally they follow a predictable pattern; he says that he set out with X number of aims, and then he explains he has achieved all X of them (even if he hasn’t). The most interesting comments normally come in the exchanges with MPs.

   2016 February 22, Andrew Sparrow, “David Cameron's swipe at Boris Johnson in the Commons – verdict”, in The Guardian

   1 more example

   But chances are that Google will continue to float new ideas before eventually merging the best of them into a single, coherent application, as it did with Hangouts. And then it'll start the process again. In the meantime, Google will spend money developing x number of duplicate apps, and users will have to deal with a confusing mess of applications on their home screens.

   2016 May 19, Aaron Souppouris, “Why Google can't stop making messaging apps”, in Engadget

1. slanglifestyleUsed between the names of two characters to denote a ship, particularly in anime, manga, and video games.

   Tho' my doujinshi is a Cloud x Sephiroth - yes you read that right - Cloud's name is first. ^^!

   2003 April 29, sephigirl, “Re: [OT] Character selections was: Re: [POLL] Identification”, in alt.fan.utena (Usenet)

   2 more examples

   If there is anyone in the audience who can't stand someone pushing a Shinji x Rei thing, I know you want to quit on this fic now.

   1998 August 31, Greg Upchurch, “[Eva][Fanfic] Aright”, in rec.arts.anime.creative (Usenet)

   I'm a fairly big Angel x Buffy fan, though I'm not a particularly big fan of Angel. They just work well together, IMO.

   2002 July 7, Arnold Kim, “Re: Favorite couples??”, in alt.tv.buffy-v-slayer (Usenet)

2. entertainmentUsed in place of and in artist collaborations.

   Taska Black x DROELOE, Steve Aoki x Lauren Jauregui, etc.

1. An unknown quantity or unknown value.

   Let X represent the forecast traffic flow in 20 years’ time.

   1 more example

   To know whether a word X is heterological, we must already know what X means. (By contrast, I can know that the word “subdermatoglyphic” has certain syntactic properties—it is six-syllabled, contains the letter “m”, etc.— without having any idea of its meaning.) This indirectness is fine as long as X already has an assigned meaning, for in that case the meaning of “heterological” is ultimately grounded. But when X is the word “heterological”, then we are trying to define “heterological” in terms of itself. We have a closed circle, and a contradictory one, due to the negation operator in the definition.

   2020 January 30, Richard Johns, “Why Physicalism Seems to Be (and Is) Incompatible with Intentionality”, in Acta Analytica, →DOI, archived from the original on 10 Jul 2025, pages 7-8

1. A placeholder for an unknown, suppressed or hypothetical name.

   Suppose that Mr and Mrs X have been married for many years.

   2 more examples

   The woman known until now as Witness X has been unmasked after a court ruling.

   Although the Take Care Clause grants the president significant authority to enforce the laws, the duty to take care does not include a power to forbid the execution of the laws. Consequently, the president does not have the authority to disregard Congress’s declaration of war against Country X. On the contrary, the president has an obligation to faithfully execute the declaration of war, even against their own beliefs and wishes.

   2023 November, Andrea L. R. Pillai, “Hawks and Doves: Evaluating Presidential Powers and Duties Against Congress's Power to Declare War”, in Duke Law Journal, volume 73, number 2, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 11 Mar 2024, page 419

2. governmentA surname, used by those who have had their identity or heritage, including their proper ancestral names, erased or forgotten.

   Malcolm X

3. social mediaAn online social media network, formerly known as Twitter.

   Two senior USAid security officials were suspended on Sunday for blocking Doge officials from a restricted area, a day after the agency’s website went offline, and Musk posted to X that USAid was “beyond repair” and needed to be shut down.

   2025 February 3, Richard Luscombe, “Marco Rubio appoints himself head of USAid as workers locked out of office”, in The Guardian, →ISSN, archived from the original on 04 Apr 2025

lowercase x · plural Xs · plural X's

1. letteruppercaseThe twenty-fourth letter of the English alphabet, called ex and written in the Latin script.

1. Any mark that looks like that letter, such as a mark made by a person who cannot read or write in lieu of a signature.
2. ball gamesThe spot behind the goal.

1. not comparableIntersex or non-binary (in passports and identification documents).

   So last summer, when the Massachusetts State Legislature became one of the first in the nation to consider a bill to add an “X” option for nonbinary genders to the “M” and “F” on the state driver’s license, El, 17, was less surprised than some at the maneuver that effectively killed it.

   2019 May 29, Amy Harmon, “Which Box Do You Check? Some States Are Offering a Nonbinary Option”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 08 Jun 2019

present singular third person Xs · participle present Xing · participle past Xed · past Xed

1. alternativeAlternative spelling of ex (“to delete; to cross out”).

   I Xed the ballot for our Congressman last election just because he seemed […]

   1944, Henry R. Luce, Fortune, volume 30, page 88

1. slanguncountableEcstasy, a particular street drug.

   You can find me in the club, bottle full of bub'. Look, mami, I got the X if you into takin' drugs.

   2003 January 7, “In da Club” (track 5), in Get Rich or Die Tryin', performed by 50 Cent

   2 more examples

   Tonight the kids will go out and party down in a more righteous mode. Alcohol and not a few tabs of X will be ingested. Club music will throb through big speakers.

   2008, Stephen King, Graduation Weekend

   I'm a love druggie falling for these drug junkies. Come n call on me besides these X parties. It's fucking hard on my body.

   2018 June 8, “Love Druggie”performed by Mendoza

1. datednot comparableUK film certificateSuitable only for those aged sixteen or (later) eighteen years and over.
2. not comparableObscene; adult; pornographic; XXX.

   If you go to an X movie you do so knowingly, as does everyone else in the audience. Or if the same thing comes up on TV you can switch over, or, if you wish, enjoy it in relative privacy.

   1976, Movie Maker, volume 10, numbers 1-6, page 364

1. informalChrist

plural Xes

1. Cross, crossing.

   Kennington via Charing X

comparative more X · superlative most X

1. abbreviationinformalAbbreviation of extreme.

1. UnixcomputingThe X Window System, a windowing system for bitmap displays commonly used in Unix-like systems.

   Synonyms: X11