treble

1. not comparableentertainmentPertaining to the highest singing voice or part in harmonized music.

   He put his cigar in his mouth, and, with his right hand, up in the treble keys, he began to play, in octaves, the melody of a song called "The Kinkajou," which, somewhat notably, had shifted into and ostensibly out of popularity before he was born.

   1957, J[erome] D[avid] Salinger, “Zooey”, in Franny and Zooey, published 1961

   Synonyms: high-pitched, strident · Antonyms: deep

2. datednot comparableThreefold, triple.

   A lofty tower, and strong on every side / With treble walls.

   1697, John Dryden, chapter 6, in The Aeneid by Virgil

   3 more examples

   Every subscriber of one penny per week, who is sixty years of age, or upwards, and under four-score, to be entitled to receive treble his subscription at the end of the year; that is, his own subscription, and twice as much more.

   1806, The Orthodox Churchman’s Magazine and Review; or, A Treasury of Divine and Useful Knowledge, volume X, London: […] J. G. Barnard, […], and sold by F[rancis,] C[harles] and J[ohn] Rivington, […], page 140

   The treble walls and ditches on the land side … diminish the extent of ground covered with houses.

   1837 Penny Cyclopedia, vol. 7, s.v. "Constantinople"

   At the surface of the water it's fourteen pounds to the inch, thirty feet down it's double that; sixty, treble; ninety, four times

   1896, H. G. Wells, In the Abyss, Pearson's Magazine

   Synonyms: tern, ternary, threefold, triadic, trinary, trine, triple

1. datednot comparableTrebly; triply.

   Whose deserts might buy him treble

   1623 (first performance), John Fletcher, William Rowley, “The Maid in the Mill”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1647, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals)

   Synonyms: thrice, threefold, thrice, thricely, threefold, trebly, triply

plural trebles

1. entertainmentThe highest singing voice (especially as for a boy) or part in musical composition.

   The voices include a counter (always below the tenor), a countertenor (moving above and below the tenor), mene, treble, and quadreble.

   1991, Blanche Gangwere, Music history during the Renaissance period, 1425-1520, page 25

   2 more examples

   He starts out by saying that there are three sights, the mene, treble, and quadreble, but actually he discusses only two, the treble and quadreble, both of which are read at the transposition of an octave.

   1959, The Musical quarterly - Volume 45, page xlvi

   The counter involves transposition of the sighted note to the fifth below (for extremely low notes a twelfth), the mene and countertenor do not transpose, the treble transposes to the octave above, and the quadreble to the twelfth above.

   2003, Willi Apel, Don Michael Randel, The Harvard Dictionary of Music, page 780

2. entertainmentA person or instrument having a treble voice or pitch; a boy soprano.
3. The highest tuned in a ring of bells.
4. Any high-pitched or shrill voice or sound.
5. datedA threefold quantity or number; something having three parts or having been tripled.
6. datedA drink with three portions of alcohol; a triple
7. dartsAny of the narrow areas enclosed by the two central circles on a dartboard, worth three times the usual value of the segment.
8. hobbiesThree goals, victories, awards etc. in a given match or season.

   As for City, a domestic treble is off the cards and they must haul themselves off the floor quickly with the second leg of their last-16 Champions League tie against Barcelona on Wednesday.

   2014 March 9, Jacob Steinberg, “Wigan shock Manchester City in FA Cup again to reach semi-finals”, in The Guardian

   1. ball gamesA win in the top league, top national cup and top continental cup in the same season.

present singular third person trebles · participle present trebling · participle past trebled · past trebled

1. datedtransitiveTo multiply by three; to make into three parts, layers, or thrice the amount.

   German climate minister says speed of carbon cuts needs to be trebled [title]

   2022 January 11, Kate Connolly, “German climate minister says speed of carbon cuts needs to be trebled”, in The Guardian

   1 more example

   There is increasing evidence that cannabis use can act as a risk factor for the development of bipolar as well as psychotic disorders. A recent systematic review by Gibbs and colleagues identified several studies supporting a link between cannabis use and subsequent relapse of manic symptoms. This review also included a meta-analysis of two large prospective cohort studies, which found that cannabis use almost trebled the risk of new-onset subthreshold manic symptoms after adjusting for potential confounding factors.

   2018 April 26, Tobias A Rowland, Steven Marwaha, “Epidemiology and risk factors for bipolar disorder”, in Therapeutic Advances in Psychopharmacology, volume 8, number 9, →DOI, pages 251–269

   Synonyms: triple

2. datedintransitiveTo become multiplied by three or increased threefold.

   I am more ſerious then my cuſtome; you Muſt be ſo too, if heed me: which to do Trebbles thee o're.

   1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i], page 8

3. intransitiveTo make a shrill or high-pitched noise.

   Synonyms: keen, screech, shrill

4. transitiveTo utter in a treble key; to whine.

   He outrageously / (When I accused him) trebled his reply.

   1618, George Chapman, A Hymn to Hermes

plural trebles

1. alternativeAlternative form of tribble (“frame for drying paper”).