Pronunciations (3)
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/ˈdʌb.əl/
Pronunciation notes
- Canada
- General-American
- Received-Pronunciation
-
[ˈdʌb.ɫ̩]
Pronunciation notes
- Canada
- General-American
- Received-Pronunciation
-
ˈdʌb.əl
Adjective
Made up of two matching or complementary elements.
Usage- not-comparable
- Examples
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The closet has double doors.
More examples (2)
“[…] it is not fair of you to bring against mankind double weapons ! Such is not the usage of civilized warfare. Dangerous enough you are as woman alone, without bringing to your aid those gifts of mind suited to problems which men have been accustomed to arrogate to themselves.”
The [Washington] Post's proprietor through those turbulent [Watergate] days, Katharine Graham, held a double place in Washington’s hierarchy: at once regal Georgetown hostess and scrappy newshound, ready to hold the establishment to account.
Of twice the quantity.
Usage- not-comparable
- Examples
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Give me a double serving of mashed potatoes.
Britain's population density used to be double that of China.
More examples (2)
The 40-year-old [Mike Skinner] is happy to put his body on the line in other ways, swapping a mug of tea for a fan's double pint of lager and messily necking it in one.
The Shanghai-based company reported Wednesday that net profit soared 246% to 28 billion yuan ($3.9 billion) in the first quarter of 2024, more than double the average analyst estimate of 12.62 billion yuan ($1.7 billion), according to LSEG data.
Of a family relationship, related on both the maternal and paternal sides of a family.
Usage- not-comparable
- Examples
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He's my double cousin as my mother's sister married my father's brother.
Designed for two (people, cars, etc.).
Usage- not-comparable
- Examples
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a double room
a double garage
Folded in two; composed of two layers.
Usage- not-comparable
Stooping; bent over.
Usage- not-comparable
Having two aspects; ambiguous.
Usage- not-comparable
- Examples
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a double meaning
More examples (1)
Assuming the accuracy of his information, the curious fact was established that Mr Rigby Lacksome, ostensibly in England to attend the book sales, had prompted a convenient organization to carry out a raid on a certain historic building, while he himself immediately appeared on the scene with an arrangement to make good the damage. […] Was there, indeed, some double purpose here at work?
False, deceitful, or hypocritical.
Usage- not-comparable
- Examples
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a double life
A fals double tunge is more fiers and fell Then Cerberus the cur couching in the kenel of hel; Wherof hereafter, I thinke for to write,
Of flowers, having more than the normal number of petals.
Usage- not-comparable
Of an instrument, sounding an octave lower.
Usage- not-comparable
- Examples
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a double bass
Of time, twice as fast.
Usage- not-comparable
Adverb
Twice over; twofold; doubly.
Usage- not-comparable
- Examples
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February 7 1736, Jonathan Swift, letter to Alexander Pope I was double their age.
Two together; two at a time.
Usage- not-comparable
- Examples
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When I met the twins, I thought I was seeing double.
There are only a few beds, so some of the children will have to sleep double for the night.
Into two halves or sections.
Usage- not-comparable
- Examples
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The old man was bent double under his heavy burden.
Noun
Twice the number, amount, size, etc.
- Examples
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I did double his sales this month.
A person who resembles and stands in for another person, often for safety purposes
- Examples
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Saddam Hussein was rumored to have many doubles.
A drink with two portions of alcohol.
- Examples
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On second thought, make that a double.
Two shifts of work back to back.
- Examples
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I work a double this weekend.
A ghostly apparition of a living person; a doppelgänger.
- Examples
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More examples (1)
According to the description our captain had given me of Peter Sandaker once when he had dropped behind on the march, he was particularly good at telling tales and stories about goblin-birds, doubles, and fairies, and had a special fancy for entering into the most minute details, whenever he commenced telling about one or the other of the eighteen bears he had killed in his time.
A sharp turn, especially a return on one's own tracks.
A redundant item for which an identical item already exists.
- Examples
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I have more than 200 stamps in my collection but they're not all unique: some are doubles.
Before printing the photos, Liam deleted the doubles.
A two-base hit.
- Examples
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The catcher hit a double to lead off the ninth.
A call that increases certain scoring points if the last preceding bid becomes the contract.
A strike in which the object ball is struck so as to make it rebound against the cushion to an opposite pocket.
- Examples
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Brecel fired in doubles, a succession of stunning long pots and seemingly cleared balls at will as he rattled through the first four frames in under an hour.
A bet on two horses in different races in which any winnings from the first race are placed on the horse in the later race.
- Examples
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Not only did I collect on the double; I had the win and the place money as well.
The narrow outermost ring on a dartboard.
A hit on this ring.
A tile that has the same value (i.e., the same number of pips) on both sides.
A double-precision floating-point number.
- Examples
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The sine function returns a double.
Two competitions, usually one league and one cup, won by the same team in a single season.
A boat for two scullers.
The feat of scoring twice in one game.
- Examples
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DJ Campbell grabbed a second-half double as Blackpool made Sunderland pay for a host of missed chances to secure a fifth away league win of the season.
The feat of winning two events in a single meet or competition.
- Examples
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In 1996, Michael Johnson achieved a double by winning both the 200 and 400 meter dashes.
The achievement of 1000 runs and 100 wickets taken in a single season.
A former French coin worth one-sixth of a sou.
Usage- Historical
A copper coin worth one-eighth of a penny.
Usage- Guernsey
- Historical
- Examples
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As for doubles, they are not worth anything now; and I have still got an egg-cupful my mother used to keep handy to give the baker change from a farthing.
Playing the same part on two instruments, alternately.
A double feast.
Synonym of double-quick (“fast marching pace”).
A secondary instrument with which a musician is skilled.
- Examples
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The saxophone is a valuable and rewarding double, and opens up many gigs that aren’t available to players of just the “orchestral” woodwinds.
A double-cross or betrayal.
Usage- Dated
- Slang
- Examples
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More examples (1)
His fellows had chaffed him much upon the way that astute adventurer had bamboozled him, or, in their vernacular, "put the double on him," and vowed that all his energies should be devoted to a return match.
A double agent.
- Examples
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'This is 007 speaking. This is an open line. It's an emergency. Can you hear me? Pass this on at once. 3030 was a double, working for Redland.
Someone who identifies with the same kintype.
Usage- Slang
- Examples
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seeing a double of their kintype can feel threatening or disorienting, or just make them kind of uncomfortable if their kintype is very personal to them.
Someone who yumeships with the same character as another person.
Usage- Slang
- Examples
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Haven’t been in the yumeshipping space for all that long so I never really knew if I was sharing or not until I talked to a double.
Verb
To multiply by two.
Usage- Transitive
- Examples
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The company doubled their earnings per share over last quarter.
To increase by 100%, to become twice as large in size.
Usage- Intransitive
- Examples
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Our earnings have doubled in the last year.
To be the double of; to exceed by twofold; to contain or be worth twice as much as.
- Examples
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Thus re-inforc’d, againſt the adverſe Fleet / Still doubling ours, brave Rupert leads the way.
To fold over so as to make two folds.
Usage- Transitive
- Examples
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To make a pleat, double the material at the waist.
To clench (a fist).
Usage- sometimes
- Transitive
- followed by up
To get a two-base hit.
- Examples
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The batter doubled into the corner.
To join or couple.
Usage- often
- Transitive
- followed by together or up
To repeat exactly; copy.
Usage- Transitive
To serve a second role or have a second purpose.
Usage- Intransitive
- Examples
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A spork is a kind of fork that doubles as a spoon.
To act as substitute for (another theatrical performer in a certain role, etc).
Usage- Transitive or intransitive
- sometimes
- with "for"
- Examples
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Laforêt, who (as the French express it), doubles Lainez, that is, performs the same characters in his absence.
[…] and when she attempted to double the part of her mother, she equally failed in playing the great or agreeable lady.
To play (both one part and another, in the same play, etc).
- Examples
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More examples (2)
When, therefore, Briggs, the sedate, middle-aged individual, who in the Markham household doubles the roles of butler and valet, makes his appearance, his master affects to be in a great hurry, looks at his watch, and says : […]
Miss Theby doubles in the part of Rose and the native girl in the Philippines. This is a problem plot in which a young man leaves the girl of his choice because she has had an affair in her earlier years. He goes to the Philippines, […]
In On the Beat he doubles the parts of a constable and a gang-leader. Norman was all over the place.
More examples (1)
In his case the matter is simplified by the fact that the head of his Deception Staff doubles the roles of author and producer. The Commander therefore tells him what sort of deception he needs, examines the plans produced for him […]
To turn sharply, following a winding course.
Usage- Intransitive
To sail around (a headland or other point).
- Examples
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Sailing along the coast, he doubled the promontory of Carthage.
More examples (1)
[…] though the Iſland itſelf was not very large […] I found a great Ledge of Rocks lie out about two Leagues into the Sea[…]ſo that I was oblig’d to go a great Way out to Sea to double the Point.
To duplicate (a part) either in unison or at the octave above or below it.
To be capable of performing (upon an additional instrument).
Usage- Intransitive
- usually
- followed by "on"
To make a call that will double certain scoring points if the preceding bid becomes the contract.
To double down.
Usage- Intransitive
To cause (a ball) to rebound from a cushion before entering the pocket.
To go or march at twice the normal speed.
Usage- Intransitive
- Examples
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More examples (1)
"You double down to the harbour, my lad," said the Captain to Strickland, "and sign on. You've got your papers." Strickland set off at once, and that was the last Captain Nichols saw of him.
To multiply the strength or effect of by two.
Usage- Transitive
- Examples
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Sorry, this store does not double coupons.
To unite, as ranks or files, so as to form one from each two.
To transmit simultaneously on the same channel as another station, either unintentionally or deliberately, causing interference.
Usage- Informal
- of a station
- Examples
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Could you please repeat your last transmission? Another station was doubling with you.
To operate as a double agent.
Usage- Intransitive
- Examples
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More examples (1)
Was this simply the cover name of an Allied spy-code named the Brass Monkey? […] The possibility that the Brass Monkey himself was "doubling" (with headquarters' approval, of course) is too logical […]
Adjective
having more than one decidedly dissimilar aspects or qualities
- Examples
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a double (or dual) role for an actor
consisting of or involving two parts or components usually in pairs
- Examples
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an egg with a double yolk
a double (binary) star
More examples (3)
double doors
dual controls for pilot and copilot
duple (or double) time consists of two (or a multiple of two) beats to a measure
twice as great or many
- Examples
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ate a double portion
the dose is doubled
More examples (1)
a twofold increase
used of flowers having more than the usual number of petals in crowded or overlapping arrangements
- Antonyms
- Examples
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double chrysanthemums have many rows of petals and are usually spherical or hemispherical
used of homologous chromosomes associated in pairs in synapsis
- Synonyms
large enough for two
- Examples
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a double bed
a double room
having two meanings with intent to deceive
- Synonyms
- Examples
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a sly double meaning
spoke with forked tongue
Noun
a base hit on which the batter stops safely at second base
- Synonyms
- Examples
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he hit a double to deep centerfield
a stand-in for movie stars to perform dangerous stunts
- Examples
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his first job in Hollywood was as a double for Clark Gable
someone who closely resembles a famous person (especially an actor)
- Synonyms
- Examples
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he could be Gingrich's double
she's the very image of her mother
a quantity that is twice as great as another
- Broader terms
- Examples
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36 is the double of 18
raising the stakes in a card game by a factor of 2
- Synonyms
- Broader terms
- Examples
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I decided his double was a bluff
Adverb
downward and forward
- Examples
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he was bent double with pain
two together
- Examples
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some people sleep better double
to double the degree
- Examples
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she was doubly rewarded
his eyes were double bright
Verb
increase twofold
- Synonyms
- Examples
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The population doubled within 50 years
hit a two-base hit
- Broader terms
bend over or curl up, usually with laughter or pain
- Synonyms
- Examples
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He doubled and vomited violently
do double duty; serve two purposes or have two functions
- Examples
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She doubles as his wife and secretary
make a demand for (a card or suit)
make or do or perform again
- Broader terms
- Examples
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He could never replicate his brilliant performance of the magic trick