double entendre
[ duhb-uhl ahn-tahn-druh, -tahnd; French doo-blahn-tahn-druh ]
/ ˈdʌb əl ɑnˈtɑn drə, -ˈtɑnd; French du blɑ̃ˈtɑ̃ drə /
noun, plural dou·ble en·ten·dres [duhb-uhl ahn-tahn-druhz, -tahndz; French doo-blahn-tahn-druh]. /ˈdʌb əl ɑnˈtɑn drəz, -ˈtɑndz; French du blɑ̃ˈtɑ̃ drə/.
a double meaning.
a word or expression used in a given context so that it can be understood in two ways, especially when one meaning is risqué.
QUIZZES
LEARN THE SPANISH WORDS FOR THESE COMMON ANIMALS!
Are you learning Spanish? Or do you just have an interest in foreign languages? Either way, this quiz on Spanish words for animals is for you.
Question 1 of 13
How do you say “cat” 🐈 in Spanish?
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021
Example sentences from the Web for double entendre
But the entendre and innuendo permeates the rest of the series—often innocently, but sometimes far more blatantly.
‘Mozart in the Jungle’: Inside Amazon’s Brave New World of Sex, Drugs, and Classical Music|Kevin Fallon|December 23, 2014|DAILY BEASTDevez entendre que la pluspart de cette ville, hommes et femmes, tiennent fermement l'ancienne foi.
History of the Great Reformation, Volume IV|J. H. Merle D'AubignMais peut-tre y avait-il une bonne part d'exagration dans ce que les Werstiens croyaient voir, entendre et ressentir.
Le chteau des Carpathes|Jules Verne
British Dictionary definitions for double entendre
double entendre
/ (ˈdʌbəl ɑːnˈtɑːndrə, -ˈtɑːnd, French dubl ɑ̃tɑ̃drə) /
noun
a word, phrase, etc, that can be interpreted in two ways, esp one having one meaning that is indelicate
the type of humour that depends upon such ambiguity
Word Origin for double entendre
C17: from obsolete French: double meaning
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
Cultural definitions for double entendre
double-entendre
[ (dub-uhl-ahn-tahn-druh; dooh-blahnn-tahnn-druh) ]
A word or expression that has two different meanings (in French, double-entendre means “double meaning”), one of which is often bawdy or indelicate. A double-entendre is found in this sentence: “A nudist camp is simply a place where men and women meet to air their differences.”
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.