triangle

plural triangles

1. geometryA polygon with three sides and three angles.

   Meronyms: angle, side, cathetus, leg, hypotenuse; see also Thesaurus:polygon

   1 more example

   The wedge-shaped character was the triangle, the archaic Paleolithic sign of the vulva; the pubic triangle was at the end of the phallic stylus.

   1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 22

   Synonyms: threeside, trigon

2. CanadaUSA set square.
3. entertainmentA percussion instrument made by forming a metal rod into a triangular shape which is open at one angle. It is suspended from a string and hit with a metal bar to make a resonant sound.
4. ball gamesA triangular piece of equipment used for gathering the balls into the formation required by the game being played.
5. A love triangle.

   One of the writers' most pleasing inventions was to treat the triangle love story as comedy.

   2009, Neil McDonald, Quadrant, November 2009, No. 461 (Volume LIII, Number 11), Quadrant Magazine Limited, page 104

   Synonyms: love triangle, menage à trois

6. systemicsThe structure of systems composed with three interrelated objects.
7. A draughtsman's square in the form of a right-angled triangle.
8. historicalplural normallyA frame formed of three poles stuck in the ground and united at the top, to which people were bound for corporal punishment.

   I was flogged in 1840. To this day I feel a pain in the chest from the triangles.

   1851, Henry Mayhew, London Labour and the London Poor, published 1861

   1 more example

   But nothing is said as to what we are to do with the negro when we have cut him off from absolute dominion; we are not informed if we may spread him on the triangles as aforetime;

   1868, “The Week”, in The Nation, volume 6, number 149

9. Any of various large papilionid butterflies of the genus Graphium.

   Synonyms: bluebottle

10. rail transportA triangular formation of railway tracks, with a curve on at least one side.

    After turning on the triangle at Jeumont, we set off light engine back to Aulnoye.

    1961 March, ""Balmore"", “Driving and firing modern French steam locomotives”, in Trains Illustrated, page 147

    Synonyms: wye

present singular third person triangles · participle present triangling · participle past triangled · past triangled

1. human sciencesTo form or be included in a three-part interaction, e.g., a Karpman drama triangle, such as by being ganged up on by two people or being torn between conflicting demands from two sources.

1. A place in the United States:
   1. The area comprising the cities of Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill in North Carolina. Used with "the" except when attributive.

      I moved to the Triangle two years ago.

      1 more example

      Many Triangle residents enjoy iced tea.

   2. A town in Broome County, New York.
   3. A census-designated place in Prince William County, Virginia.
2. A community in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, seemingly in Labrador.
3. A place in England:
   1. A hamlet in Hewelsfield and Brockweir parish, Forest of Dean district, Gloucestershire (OS grid ref SO5401).
   2. A suburb of Burntwood in Hammerwich parish, Lichfield district, Staffordshire (OS grid ref SK0507).
   3. A small village south-west of Sowerby Bridge, Calderdale borough, West Yorkshire (OS grid ref SE0422).
4. A small town in Masvingo province, Zimbabwe.
5. abbreviationellipsisEllipsis of Bermuda Triangle.