five-o
(US, _, street, _, slang) The police.
ˈfaɪvoʊDocumented since 1960s1960sGen Xhistorical158 viewsLast reviewed Jun 29, 2026＋ Add a definition
Etymology timeline
Born ~1968 · no dated citations yetBoomer / counterculture eraSee decade cohort →
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#1·Apr 27, 2026
(US, _, street, _, slang) The police.
Five-oh caught me, now I'm going to the mountains / Said good-bye to my girl, my lawyer and accountants
Origin: From the police procedural television series Hawaii Five-O (first aired in 1968), so named because it is set in Hawaii, which is the 50th U.S. state. Origin information sourced from Wiktionary contributors (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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