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double-decker

[duhb-uh l-dek-er]
noun
  1. something with two decks, tiers, or the like, as two beds one above the other, a ship with two decks above the water line, or a bus with two decks.
  2. a food item consisting of two main layers, as a sandwich made with three slices of bread and two layers of filling.
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Origin of double-decker

An Americanism dating back to 1825–35
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for double-decker

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • This river-craft was a double-decker, propelled by oars from the lower deck.

    A Tour of the Missions

    Augustus Hopkins Strong

  • The double-decker is doomed, and the twenty-five-foot lot has had its day.

  • The cars were originally imported from Birmingham, of the double-decker type.

  • Enormous indeed it must be, if we can imagine a double-decker a mile long!

    Gibraltar

    Henry M. Field

  • There were twenty-three other families in this “double-decker.”

British Dictionary definitions for double-decker

double-decker

noun
  1. mainly British a bus with two passenger decks
  2. informal
    1. a thing or structure having two decks, layers, etc
    2. (as modifier)a double-decker sandwich
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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

Word Origin and History for double-decker

n.

1835 of ships, 1867 of street vehicles; from double (adj.) + deck (n.).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper