third

1. not comparableThe ordinal form of the cardinal number three; Coming after the second.

   The third tree from the left is my favorite.

   2 more examples

   The second and third quarters of the shield are indecipherable on the stone but clearer in two other representations of the arms, a painted wooden funeral hatchment for Mary Davie[…]

   2012 October 8, Daniel W. Patterson, The True Image: Gravestone Art and the Culture of Scotch Irish Settlers in the Pennsylvania and Carolina Backcountry, UNC Press Books, →ISBN, page 141

   “Congress took the lead on putting the HBCU funding in those bills and passing them. The third COVID-19 bill, passed under President Biden, included as much funding for HBCUs as both of the first two Covid-19 bills under President Trump,” he said.

   2024 July 1, Chandelis Duster, “Biden and Trump touted what they’ve done for HBCUs at CNN’s debate. Here’s what their records show”, in CNN

   Synonyms: 3rd, 3d, IIIrd, III, tertiary

plural thirds

1. countableuncountableThe person or thing in the third position.

   Jones came in third.

2. countableuncountableOne of three equal parts of a whole.

   He ate a third of the pie. Divided by two-thirds.

   2 more examples

   Around a third of both Black and White respondents said they believed the opposition Labour Party to be institutionally racist.

   2020 June 22, Rob Picheta, “Most Black British people think the Conservative Party is institutionally racist, CNN poll finds”, in CNN

   Despite these uncertainties, Clarke told MPs he was convinced of the need to order trains powered by batteries. He said: "We're calling for a 'no regrets' order of battery trains because we see them always having a future. We see them being fundable, financeable, similar cost to diesel trains, and we know that however much electrification we would aspire to do, there's always going to be at least a third of the network that isn't electrified.

   2023 December 27, Philip Haigh, “All eyes are on the DfT as rolling stock concerns deepen”, in RAIL, number 999, page 19

   Synonyms: one-third, ⅓, 1/3

3. abbreviationellipsisuncountableEllipsis of third gear (of a gearbox).

   Now put it into third.

4. countableuncountableentertainmentAn interval consisting of the first and third notes in a scale.

   They sing in thirds.

5. countableuncountableball gamesthird base

   The play ended with Jones standing on third.

6. countableuncountablegolfA handicap of one stroke every third hole.
7. countableuncountableA third-class degree, awarded to the lowest achievers in an honours degree programme
8. archaiccountableuncountableOne sixtieth of a second, i.e., the third in a series of fractional parts in a sexagesimal number system.

   […] thirds (sixtieths of seconds), fourths (sixtieths of thirds) and so on, but then it becomes very cumbersome.

   1994, John David North, The Fontana History of Astronomy and Cosmology, page xxi

   Synonyms: tierce

present singular third person thirds · participle present thirding · participle past thirded · past thirded

1. informalTo agree with a proposition or statement after it has already been seconded.
2. To divide into three equal parts.