420 Definition & Meaning

Definition

Usage

Etymology

Examples

420 American [fawr-twen-tee, fohr‐] / ˈfɔrˈtwɛn ti, ˈfoʊr‐ / Or 4:20 or 4/20

noun

Slang

1. marijuana.

   Are you carrying any 420 on you?

2. marijuana drug use: The guys at the party were all 420-friendly.

   Police presence at the concert discouraged 420.

   The guys at the party were all 420-friendly.

3. the twentieth day of the fourth month, or the time 4:20, when referenced as a day or time for cannabis consumption or the celebration of marijuana culture.

   The head shop has a big pipe sale every year on 420.

Usage

What is 420? 420 is a slang term (or a kind of code word) referring to marijuana or marijuana use.Due to this association, 420 is also used as the name of an unofficial holiday that marijuana enthusiasts celebrate by using marijuana. It is sometimes called Weed Day (weed is a slang term for marijuana).

Etymology

Origin of 420

First recorded in 1970–75; a code word derived from the meeting time of a particular group of marijuana smokers in 1971, later popularized by fans of the band the Grateful Dead

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Allen was ordered to pay £1.23m and repaid £420; the CPS said he has no remaining assets.

From BBC

One group said Thursday it had tricked Russian servicemen by offering to activate their Starlinks for payments, but instead transferred the data it garnered on 2,420 terminals to Ukrainian authorities.

From The Wall Street Journal

ViaSat provided similar services to 6,420 commercial and business planes as of its latest fiscal quarter, which ended in December, and has a backlog of 1,100 aircraft.

From MarketWatch

In a 420 word-long post on X, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman hit back, calling Anthropic "dishonest" and "deceptive" - and even accusing the firm of using "doublespeak".

From BBC

Demand for gold was the biggest ever for a fourth quarter, reaching 1.303 tons, boosted by ETF inflows and a 12-year high for bar- and coin-buying of 420 tons — a 30% annual gain.

From MarketWatch

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.