What to know about "8647" after James Comey's Instagram post

State of play: "86" generally means to throw out or nix. "47" refers to Trump — the 47th president.

• "8647" was meant to be a silent protest to signal opposition to Trump, online publication Distractify reported in March. The numbers also circulated in posts on TikTok.
• "It's not a call for impeachment necessarily, or even an endorsement of some other candidate," per Distractify. "It's just a signal of opposition."
• A Reddit user shared a photo of a demonstrator at a Hands Off! protest in April that included the numbers.

Driving the news: Comey's Instagram post showed shells arranged on a beach in the shape of the numbers.

• Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Thursday evening that Comey's post was being investigated as a threat.
• Meanwhile, Donald Trump Jr. said Comey's post called for the president to be murdered.

Catch up quick: Eighty-six is a slang term meaning to "throw out" or "get rid of," according to Merriam-Webster.

• It traces back to 1930s soda counter slang to indicate an item was sold out and later was commonly used to mean "to refuse to serve a customer."

• "There is varying anecdotal evidence about why the term eighty-six was used, but the most common theory is that it is rhyming slang for nix," according to the dictionary.

Yes, but: Using 86 to mean "kill" is a newer and less common usage, per Merriam-Webster.

Zoom out: Merch with the combination of numbers is sold on Amazon, Etsy, Redbubble and eBay on shirts, hats, pins and stickers.

• "The "86" is a classic term meaning "to get rid of" or "eject," and "47" represents Donald J Trump," one Etsy vendor's description said.

Go deeper: Former FBI director Comey blasted over cryptic post on Trump