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• Tripoli
  Tripoli

  noun

  Also Tripolitania one of the former Barbary States of N Africa: later a province of Turkey; now a part of Libya.
• tripoli
  tripoli

  noun

  a lightweight porous siliceous rock derived by weathering and used in a powdered form as a polish, filter, etc

Tripoli

American  

[trip-uh-lee] / ˈtrɪp ə li /

noun

1. Also Tripolitania one of the former Barbary States of N Africa: later a province of Turkey; now a part of Libya.

2. a seaport in and the capital of Libya, in the NW part.

3. a seaport in N Lebanon, on the Mediterranean.

4. (lowercase) any of several siliceous substances, as rottenstone and infusorial earth, used chiefly in polishing.

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tripoli ¹ British  

/ ˈtrɪpəlɪ /

noun

1. a lightweight porous siliceous rock derived by weathering and used in a powdered form as a polish, filter, etc

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Tripoli ² British  

/ ˈtrɪpəlɪ /

noun

1. Arabic name: Tarabulus el Gharb. Ancient name: Oea. the capital and chief port of Libya, in the northwest on the Mediterranean: founded by Phoenicians in about the 7th century _bc ; the only city that has survived of the three (Oea, Leptis Magna, and Sabratha) that formed the African Tripolis ("three cities"); fishing and manufacturing centre. Pop: 1 223 300 (2002 est)

2. Arabic name: Tarabulus esh Sham. Ancient name: Tripolis. a port in N Lebanon, on the Mediterranean: the second largest town in Lebanon; taken by the Crusaders in 1109 after a siege of five years; oil-refining and manufacturing centre. Pop: 212 000 (2005 est)

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Tripoli Cultural  

1. Capital of Libya and the largest city in the country, located in northwestern Libya.

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Discover More

The city dates back to the seventh century b.c.

United States war planes attacked Tripoli in 1986 in retaliation for Libyan terrorist acts against American citizens.

Other Word Forms

• Tripolitan
  noun

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Etymology

Origin of tripoli

C17: named after _Tripoli , in Libya or in Lebanon

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Tripoli tripoli

The Dar al-Ifta is an influential religious institution based in Tripoli, in western Libya.

From BBC ● Nov. 3, 2026

"Libyan teachers are suffering," one Tripoli teacher, Fatima Ali, told AFP.

From Barron's ● Oct. 1, 2026

At one point, Judge Friedrich instructed the US government to get hold of the original handwritten document and the carbon copy, only to be told the authorities in Tripoli couldn't find them.

From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026

“But according to Tripoli, what brought America to war was its failure to assess correctly the political relationship between Algiers and Tripoli.”

From Salon ● Jul. 4, 2026

“Men,” he said, “it is exactly one hundred and thirty- eight years since the Marines fought in Tripoli and first raised an American flag over foreign soil.”

From "Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War Two" by Joseph Bruchac

The active constituent of all metal polishes is generally chalk, rouge, or tripoli, because these produce a polish on metallic surfaces.

From Handbook on Japanning: 2nd Edition For Ironware, Tinware, Wood, Etc. With Sections on Tinplating and Galvanizing by William N. Brown

Primrose should try a little tripoli and water upon the surface of the table.

From The Girl's Own Paper, Vol. VIII, No. 357, October 30, 1886 by Various

It is the chief ingredient of sand, sandstone, quartzite, chert, diatomaceous earth, and tripoli.

From The Economic Aspect of Geology by C. K. (Charles Kenneth) Leith

They may then be polished on a clean buffer without tripoli.

From Handwork in Wood by William Noyes

Rub it up and down the first of these grooves, containing emery powder; and then, to give it its final lustre, repeat the same process, with tripoli and oil, in the second groove.

From A Treatise on Etching by Maxime Lalanne

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