THREE

Pronunciation (US):

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does three mean? 

• THREE (noun)
  The noun THREE has 2 senses:

1. the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one and one

2. one of four playing cards in a deck having three pips

  Familiarity information: THREE used as a noun is rare.

• THREE (adjective)
  The adjective THREE has 1 sense:

1. being one more than two

  Familiarity information: THREE used as an adjective is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• THREE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The cardinal number that is the sum of one and one and one

Classified under:

Nouns denoting quantities and units of measure

Synonyms:

3; deuce-ace; III; leash; tercet; ternary; ternion; terzetto; three; threesome; tierce; trey; triad; trine; trinity; trio; triplet; troika

Hypernyms ("three" is a kind of...):

digit; figure (one of the elements that collectively form a system of numeration)

Sense 2

Meaning:

One of four playing cards in a deck having three pips

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

three; trey

Hypernyms ("three" is a kind of...):

playing card (one of a pack of cards that are used to play card games)

• THREE (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Being one more than two

Synonyms:

3; iii; three

Similar:

cardinal (being or denoting a numerical quantity but not order)

 Context examples 

Suddenly, to my surprise, the three at the altar faced round to me, and Godfrey Norton came running as hard as he could towards me.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I had never thought it possible that we three could be together undisturbed, once more; and I felt, for the time, as if the old days were come back.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

I have three now, the best that ever were backed.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

There are three types of angina.

(Angina, NIH: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)

MEN2 is caused by a mutation (change) in a gene called RET, and is divided into three subtypes (MEN2A, MEN2B, and FMTC).

(MEN2, NCI Dictionary)

Captain Benwick looked, and was, the youngest of the three, and, compared with either of them, a little man.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

He came for a visit of a week, and oh! it seemed three months to me.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

They gave her three kinds of wine to drink, white, red, and yellow, and with that she died.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

They were stored in a block of slightly over three cubic meters.

(Brazil and China scientists unearth pterosaur eggs with preserved embryos, Agência Brasil)

At the end of three months he went down a third time to the village with Joe.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)