triple
Americanadjective
-
threefold; consisting of three parts.
a triple knot.
-
of three kinds; threefold in character or relationship.
-
three times as great.
-
International Law. tripartite.
noun
-
triples
plural
-
an amount, number, etc., three times as great as another.
-
a group, set, or series of three; something threefold; triad.
-
Also called three-base hit. Baseball. a base hit that enables a batter to reach third base safely.
-
Bowling. three strikes in succession.
verb (used with object)
-
triples,
present (3rd person singular)
-
tripled,
past participle, past
-
tripling
present participle
-
to make triple.
-
Baseball. to cause to come into home plate by a triple.
to triple a runner home; to triple a run in.
verb (used without object)
-
triples,
present (3rd person singular)
-
tripled,
past participle, past
-
tripling
present participle
-
to become triple.
-
Baseball. to make a triple.
adjective
-
consisting of three parts; threefold
-
(of musical time or rhythm) having three beats in each bar
-
three times as great or as much
noun
-
a threefold amount
-
a group of three
verb
Usage
What is a basic definition of triple? Triple describes something as being made of three parts or being three times as great. Triple also means a set of three. The word triple has several other senses as an adjective, noun, and verb. In any sense, the word triple always has to do with the number three. Triple often describes something that is made of three parts or contains three of something.
- Real-life examples: A triple-layer cake has three layers. A triple homicide involves the murder of three people. A triple-decker bus has three decks of seats. A cardplayer who has triple aces has three cards with aces on them.
- Used in a sentence: My famous triple-layer cake has two layers of chocolate cake and one layer of vanilla cake.
- Used in a sentence: I sold my bike for $300, which is triple the $100 I paid for it.
- Used in a sentence: I think I will triple the tablespoons of sugar in the next batch of lemonade from 2 tablespoons to 6.
- Used in a sentence: The shirts were packaged together in triples of red, white, and blue.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
triplesimple
-
triplessimple
-
have tripledperfect
-
has tripledperfect
-
am triplingprogressive
-
are triplingprogressive
-
is triplingprogressive
-
have been triplingperfect progressive
-
has been triplingperfect progressive
Past
-
tripledsimple
-
had tripledperfect
-
was triplingprogressive
-
were triplingprogressive
-
had been triplingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of triple
1325–75; Middle English (noun and v.) < Latin triplus (adj.), equivalent to tri- tri- + ( du ) plus duple
Explanation
Triple means to multiply by three. If you triple the number two, you get six, and six is the triple of the number two. In triple, you see tri which means three. You see this prefix in tricycle (three wheels), tripod (three legs), and triplet (three siblings born at the same time). To triple is to increase threefold, just as to double means to increase twofold, quadruple fourfold and quintuple fivefold. In each of these pairs, the former word is Latin based and the latter has Old English origins.
Vocabulary lists containing triple
Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Prefixes: tri-
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tri (three)
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Ben Carson
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
It also aims to more than triple operating free cash flow at VodafoneThree by fiscal 2032 relative to a fiscal 2025 baseline.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
It comes after Sir Ed told the BBC removing the triple lock "would put more pensioners into poverty".
From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026
Saturday is expected to be the peak of the heat wave, with temperatures reaching triple digits in parts of Los Angeles and Ventura counties, according to the National Weather Service.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
A majority of nations have called for ambitious, legally binding measures to curb production of plastic, which is expected to triple by 2060.
From Barron's ● Oct. 1, 2026
To be triple safe, Jay adds more water, then shovels more dirt.
From "Paradise on Fire" by Jewell Parker Rhodes
Around 77,000 people live here, but that number already triples during the summer due to incoming holidaymakers.
From Slate ● Sep. 8, 2026
Díaz gave up back-to-back triples to Geraldo Perdomo and Corbin Carroll to tie the score.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 9, 2026
Moderna’s first-quarter revenue more than triples to $389 million, leading to a narrower quarterly loss of $1.34 billion.
From Barron's ● May 1, 2026
That number nearly triples in the next older cohort of 60 to 64, and jumps to nearly 70% by the ages of 65 to 69.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 22, 2026
I graduated from playing fours to triples and then to pairs.
From "Ugly" by Robert Hoge
Her partner did the same course, starting a year before her and before tuition fees near tripled with the introduction of Plan 2 loans.
From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2026
Graham’s stock has returned 59% over the past year and has nearly tripled over the past two years.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 8, 2026
AI-assisted shoppers spend more, while AI-driven orders and traffic to its stores tripled year-over-year in the latest quarter.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026
Meanwhile dementia deaths have tripled and anxiety- and depression-related health loss has risen sharply since the Covid-19 pandemic.
From Barron's ● Oct. 2, 2026
When farmers first planted hybrid corn in the 1930s their yields doubled or tripled.
From "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan
Assets under management for the four-year-old ETF totaled $1.9 billion as of Sept. 21, more than tripling from $640 million when MarketWatch spoke to Campbell in February.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 23, 2026
"That's why we are tripling investment over the next five years to halve spills from storm overflows and upgrade the capacity of 1,700 wastewater treatment works," a spokesperson said.
From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2026
Still, Gervais remained undeterred, doubling and tripling down on his comedy and delivering a since-viral “I don’t care” monologue during his final hosting stint.
From Salon ● Sep. 8, 2026
If something seems miraculous—like doubling or tripling other people’s money in a few months—our intuition tells us the person who did it must be a miracle worker.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026
Technology had been moving so quickly, doubling, tripling, quadrupling in power.
From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel
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.
