double possessive

American  

noun

Grammar.

1. a possessive construction consisting of a prepositional phrase with of containing a substantive in the possessive case, as of father's in He is a friend of father's.

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Example Sentences

I refer to the “double possessive”, which is evidently a perfecdy respectable grammatical construction, but simply jars with me, and perhaps always will.

From Literature

The only time you drop the double possessive is when, instead of being involved with an animate being, you are “a lover of the British Museum”, because obviously the British Museum does not - and never can - love you back.

From Literature

We can now account for what has hitherto puzzled all grammarians, namely, the double possessive.

From Project Gutenberg

A peculiar form, a double possessive, has grown up and become a fixed idiom in modern English.

From Project Gutenberg

Both of these are now used side by side; sometimes they are used together, as one modifier, making a double possessive.

From Project Gutenberg