Advertisement

Advertisement

View synonyms for three

three

[ three ]

noun

  1. a cardinal number, 2 plus 1.
  2. a symbol for this number, as 3 or III.
  3. a set of this many persons or things.
  4. a playing card, die face, or half of a domino face with three pips.


adjective

  1. amounting to three in number.

three

/ θriː /

noun

  1. the cardinal number that is the sum of two and one and is a prime number See also number
  2. a numeral, 3, III, (iii), representing this number
  3. the amount or quantity that is one greater than two
  4. something representing, represented by, or consisting of three units such as a playing card with three symbols on it
  5. Also calledthree o'clock three hours after noon or midnight
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


determiner

    1. amounting to three

      three ships

    2. ( as pronoun )

      three were killed

“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Discover More

Word History and Origins

Origin of three1

First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English thrēo, thrīo, feminine and neuter of thrī(e); cognate with Dutch drie, German drei, Old Norse thrīr, Gothic threis, Greek treîs, Latin trēs “three,” ter “thrice,” Irish trí, Old Church Slavonic tri, Sanskrit trī, tráyas
Discover More

Word History and Origins

Origin of three1

Old English thrēo; related to Old Norse thrīr, Old High German drī, Latin trēs, Greek treis
Discover More

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms
  1. three sheets in the wind. sheet 2( def 3 ).
Discover More

Example Sentences

Their three-day scientific outing was paid for by Epstein and was big success.

Three on-the-record stories from a family: a mother and her daughters who came from Phoenix.

One of the other cops fired three times and those who were still able to give chase did.

So I was looking back at the years, and that really popped out at me, those three years.

Of the three nominated, Webster did the best, receiving 12 votes, Gohmert and Yoho received three and two votes, respectively.

It is thinner than that of chronic bronchitis, and upon standing separates into three layers of pus, mucus, and frothy serum.

I waited three months more, in great impatience, then sent him back to the same post, to see if there might be a reply.

There are three things a wise man will not trust: the wind, the sunshine of an April day, and woman's plighted faith.

In cross-section the burrows varied from round (three inches in diameter) to oval (three inches high and four inches wide).

It separates into three layers upon standing—a brown deposit, a clear fluid, and a frothy layer.

Advertisement

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement


threateningthree-a-cat