tri·ple (trĭp'əl)
adj.

1. Consisting of three parts or members.
2. Three times as much in size, strength, number, or amount.
3. Music. Having three beats to a measure.

n.

1. A number or quantity three times as great as another.
2. A group or set of three; a triad.
3. Baseball. See three-base hit.
4. See trifecta.

v., -pled, -pling, -ples.

v.tr.
To make three times as great in number or amount.

v.intr.

1. To be or become three times as great in number or amount.
2. Baseball. To make a three-base hit.

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin triplus (on the model of Greek triploos) : Latin tri-, three + -plus, -fold.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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