three

[three] /θri/

noun

a cardinal number, 2 plus 1.

a symbol for this number, as 3 or III.

a set of this many persons or things.

a playing card, die face, or half of a domino face with three pips.

adjective

amounting to three in number.

Idioms

three sheets in the wind. sheet² (def 3).

Origin

before 900; Middle English; Old English thrēo, thrīo, feminine and neuter of thrī(e); cognate with Dutch drie, German drei, Old Norse thrīr, Gothic threis, Greek treîs, Latin trēs three, ter thrice, Irish trí, OCS tri, Sanskrit trī, tráyas

Examples from the web for three

There's no need to chill a pie crust for three hours.
All three of these studies concede that graduation rates aren't the final word in college accountability.
Yet the consistency among the three compilations masks large uncertainties in the raw data on which they are based.
Catching three destructive wild pigs is quite a challenge.
Anyone who's ever seen a dog move around on three limbs knows that canines are remarkably resilient creatures.
The park service maintains three cabins in the crater for public use.
At birth they're three feet long and experienced hunters, with a good chance of survival.
He was the second interior secretary to die in an air crash in three years.
But all three books make the case that the ineffectiveness of much philanthropy is actually the fault of the philanthropist.
To demonstrate their understanding of these terms, ask students to write or state sentences that use all three of these words.

British Dictionary definitions for three

three

/θriː/

noun

the cardinal number that is the sum of two and one and is a prime number See also number (sense 1)

a numeral, 3, III, (iii), representing this number

the amount or quantity that is one greater than two

something representing, represented by, or consisting of three units such as a playing card with three symbols on it

Also called three o'clock. three hours after noon or midnight

determiner

amounting to three: three ships
(as pronoun): three were killed

adjectives ternary tertiary treble triple prefixes tri- ter-

Word Origin

Old English thrēo; related to Old Norse thrīr, Old High German drī, Latin trēs, Greek treis

Word Origin and History for three

Old English þreo, fem. and neuter (masc. þri, þrie), from Proto-Germanic *thrijiz (cf. Old Frisian thre, Middle Dutch and Dutch drie, Old High German dri, German drei, Old Norse þrir, Danish tre), from PIE *tris- (cf. Sanskrit trayas, Avestan thri, Greek treis, Latin tres, Lithuanian trys, Old Church Slavonic trye, Irisn and Welsh tri "three").

3-D first attested 1952, abbreviation of three-dimensional (1878). Three-piece suit is recorded from 1909. Three cheers for ______ is recorded from 1751. Three-martini lunch is attested from 1972. Three-ring circus first recorded 1898. Three-sixty "complete turnaround" is from 1927, originally among aviators, in reference to the number of degrees in a full circle. Three musketeers translates French les trois mousquetaires, title of an 1844 novel by Alexandre Dumas père.