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four bits†

Slang

DCHP-1 (pre-1967)

Entry from the DCHP-1 (pre-1967)

This entry may contain outdated or offensive information, terms, and examples.

fifty cents; a fifty-cent piece.

See: bit(def. 1 and note)

Quotations

1860

It was mighty hard to charge a poor fellow $1.25 for lodging in the street, without blankets, when he could sleep between sheets at the best hotel in town for only four bits.

1897

During the present year the lowest standard of value in actual use there, has been the fifty-cent piece, or, in the parlance of the town, "four bits."

1961

"I don't really need a four-bit haircut, Repeat."