five-second rule
The belief that food dropped on the ground is still hygienic to eat provided it is…Any rule that allows or prohibits certain behavior for five seconds after some event, especially: The belief that food dropped on the ground is still hygienic to eat provided it is picked up within five seconds of touching the ground.
Translations
2 languagesMeaning
3 sensesAny rule that allows or prohibits certain behavior for five seconds after some event, especially:
A rule that a player who throws in the ball from out of bounds must get rid of it in less than five seconds.
(informal)The belief that food dropped on the ground is still hygienic to eat provided it is picked up within five seconds of touching the ground.
A rule that a closely-guarded player cannot hold the ball for more than five seconds without dribbling, passing, rolling, or shooting the ball.
Forms
plural: five-second rules| Singular | five-second rule |
|---|---|
| Plural | five-second rules |
regular
Word family
3 related wordsSee also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.