baker's dozen
Thirteen; a group of thirteen.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“She asked for a dozen, but he gave her a baker's dozen.”
“The bakery always throws in an extra cookie, so you get a baker's dozen instead of twelve.”
“In the cramped kitchen, the old baker counted out a baker's dozen of warm rolls, wrapping them carefully for the widow who had lost her husband to the winter cold.”
disputed origin
Possibly from the former practice of bakers adding a thirteenth loaf of bread to a batch of twelve loaves in order to avoid punishment for accidentally selling underweight bread.
- 01
a dime a dozen
So common as to be practically or almost worthless.
- 02
baker's half dozen
Seven, a group of seven.
- 03
banker's dozen
Eleven.
- 04
cheaper by the dozen
Handled more efficiently as a group, rather than individually.
- 05
decimal dozen
Ten, a group of ten.
- 06
six of one, half a dozen of the other
The two alternatives are equivalent or indifferent; it does not matter which one is chosen.
- 07
twenty to the dozen
very fast, fluently
Last updated August 18, 2026