five-nine

English

Noun

five-nine (plural five-nines)

1. (historical) A 5.9-inch artillery shell of the kind used by Germany in World War I.
   • 1917, Wilfred Owen, Dulce Et Decorum Est:

     All went lame; all blind; / Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots / Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind.