three cheers for

Idioms  

1. Good for, hurrah for, congratulations to, as in Three cheers for our mayor! Hip, hip, hooray! Why one should shout one's encouragement or approbation three times rather than two or four is unclear. A shouted cheer presumably originated as a nautical practice, if we are to believe Daniel Defoe in Captain Singleton (1720): “We gave them a cheer, as the seamen call it.” Three cheers was first recorded in 1751. The term is also used sarcastically, when one is not really offering congratulations, as in So you finally passed; well, three cheers for you.

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Example Sentences

And three cheers for those Van Nuys players recruited out of P.E. class.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 17, 2025

The George Square celebration featured a guard of honour inspection, three cheers for the King and Queen, and the national anthem.

From BBC • May 7, 2023

Zeibert reported “the place went mad” when team owner Edward Bennett Williams jumped on a chair and led three cheers for the NFC champions.

From Washington Post • Dec. 30, 2022

No three cheers for finishing a book or dollar for every book read.

From New York Times • Aug. 30, 2019

But he steeled his nerves and said, “Yes. Um ... three cheers for Tyson!”

From "The Last Olympian" by Rick Riordan