Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The ordinal number matching the number three in a series.
  • noun One of three equal parts.
  • noun An interval of three degrees in a diatonic scale.
  • noun A tone separated by three degrees from a given tone, especially the third tone of a scale.
  • noun The transmission gear or gear ratio used to produce forward speeds next higher to those of second in a motor vehicle.
  • noun Baseball Third base.
  • noun Merchandise whose quality is below the standard set for seconds.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In golf, a handicap allowance equivalent to one stroke at every third hole; an allowance of six strokes in eighteen holes.
  • To work at or treat a third time: as, to third turnips (that is, to hoe them a third time).
  • noun Thread.
  • Next after the second: an ordinal numeral.
  • Being one of three equal subdivisions: as, the third part of anything.
  • noun One of three equal parts into which a unit or total may be divided.
  • noun plural In English and American law, the third part of the husband's personal property, which goes to the widow absolutely in the case of his dying intestate leaving a child or descendant, given (with various qualifications) by the common law and by modern statutes.
  • noun The sixtieth of a second of time or arc.
  • noun In music: A tone on the third degree above or below a given tone; the next tone but one in a diatonic series.
  • noun The interval between any tone and a tone on the third degree above or below it.
  • noun The harmonic combination of two tones at the interval thus defined.
  • noun In a scale, the third tone from the bottom; the mediant: solmizated mi.
  • noun In base-ball, same as third base. See baseball, 1.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Next after the second; coming after two others; -- the ordinal of three.
  • adjective Constituting or being one of three equal parts into which anything is divided.
  • adjective In France, the tiers état.
  • adjective (R. C. Ch.) an order attached to a monastic order, and comprising men and women devoted to a rule of pious living, called the third rule, by a simple vow if they remain seculars, and by more solemn vows if they become regulars. See Tertiary, n., 1.
  • adjective (Gram.) the person spoken of. See Person, n., 7.
  • adjective (Mus.) See Third, n., 3.
  • noun The quotient of a unit divided by three; one of three equal parts into which anything is divided.
  • noun The sixtieth part of a second of time.
  • noun (Mus.) The third tone of the scale; the mediant.
  • noun (Law) The third part of the estate of a deceased husband, which, by some local laws, the widow is entitled to enjoy during her life.
  • noun (Mus.) an interval of two tones.
  • noun (Mus.) an interval of a tone and a half.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective The ordinal form of the cardinal number three; Coming after the second.
  • noun The person or thing in the third position.
  • noun One of three equal parts of a whole.
  • noun uncountable The third gear of an engine.
  • noun music An interval consisting of the first and third notes in a scale.
  • noun baseball third base
  • noun archaic One sixtieth of a second, i.e., the third in a series of fractional parts in a sexagesimal number system. Also formerly known as a tierce.
  • verb To agree with a proposition or statement after it has already been seconded.
  • verb To divide into three equal parts.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun following the second position in an ordering or series
  • noun the base that must be touched third by a base runner in baseball
  • noun one of three equal parts of a divisible whole
  • adjective coming next after the second and just before the fourth in position
  • noun the musical interval between one note and another three notes away from it
  • noun the fielding position of the player on a baseball team who is stationed near the third of the bases in the infield (counting counterclockwise from home plate)
  • noun the third from the lowest forward ratio gear in the gear box of a motor vehicle
  • adverb in the third place

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English thridde, therdde, third, from Old English thridda; see trei- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Old English þridda

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Examples

  • He likes the term 'third way', because his own political philosophy, developed in the late 1960s, was a version of this idea.

    Hugh Muir's diary 2011

  • And coming up in third is Liberal MP Lucienne Robillard in Westmount-Ville-Marie at $27 million.

    Conservatives Disproportionately Funding Money In Tory Ridings In Quebec? « Unambiguously Ambidextrous 2008

  • And coming up in third is Liberal MP Lucienne Robillard in Westmount-Ville-Marie at $27 million.

    2008 March 10 « Unambiguously Ambidextrous 2008

  • Am I the only person who objects to the term third-wave feminist?

    What distinguishes each form of feminism from the other? 2005

  • The term third-hand smoke was coined in a study that appeared in the January 2009 edition of the journal "Pediatrics," in which it was reported that only 65 percent of non-smokers and

    ENS 2010

  • The term third-hand smoke was coined in a study that appeared in the January 2009 edition of the journal "Pediatrics," in which it was reported that only 65 percent of non-smokers and

    ENS 2010

  • The term third-hand smoke was coined in a study that appeared in the January 2009 edition of the journal "Pediatrics," in which it was reported that only 65 percent of non-smokers and

    ENS 2010

  • The term third-hand smoke was coined in a study that appeared in the January 2009 edition of the journal "Pediatrics," in which it was reported that only 65 percent of non-smokers and

    ENS 2010

  • Many different countries, with very different cultures and economies are classed under the term third world and I will be examining how accurate or inaccurate the sweeping "third world" statement may be and the possible justifications for its continued use by not only the media and charity organisations, but the leaders of the third world themselves.

    The British National Party 2009

  • A later and much more significant meaning of the term third world was one of a global scale.

    The British National Party 2009

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