4-¼ inches is the diameter of the hole on a golf green.
4
Article of the New York State Labor Law that deals with employment of minors.
Article of the U.S. Uniform Commercial Code that deals with bank deposits.
atomic number of the chemical element beryllium, symbol Be. number for wind force of 13 to 18 miles per hour, called “moderate wind–
moderate breeze.”
autterflies and dragonflies have four wings.
dental chart designation for the right second premolar (second bicuspid).
farthings in a penny (obsolete British coin).
firkins in a barrel (obsolete British measure of capacity).
fluid drams in a tablespoon.
fluid ounces in a gill.
gills in a pint.
four feet:
height of the goal cage on a regulation ice hockey rink.
width of baseball batter’s box (by six feet).
four most important AOC (Appellation contrôlée) designations of Bordeaux wines: Pomerol, Médoc, Graves/ Pessac-Léognan, and Saint-
Emilion.
four years: average life of a twenty dollar bill.
gauge (number) of a wood screw with the shank diameter of 7/64 of an inch.
the Hindu god Vishnu is portrayed as having four hands: one holding a shell (shankha); the second, a quoit (chakra); the third, a lotus; and the
fourth, a club.
hogsheads in a tun (large cask).
in astrology, the number 4 is ruled by the planet Mars.
inches in a hand (height measure for horses, from ground to top of shoulders).
in Hebrew, the numerical value of the letter daleth.
in Mesopotamian myth, number of gods who planned the flood that was to have destroyed all life on Earth. Anu (the father), Enlil (the
counselor), Ninurta (the throne carrier, son of Enlil), and Ennugi (the canal inspector).
in mineralogy, Mohs Hardness Scale level characterized by fluorite; can be scratched by glass.
in yoga, the four means to attaining knowledge of Brahman:
1. Viveka
2. Vairagya
3. Shatsampatti
4. Mumukshutva
ISBN group identifier for books published in Japan.
logs in a kab (ancient Hebrew measure of liquid capacity).
magnums in a Methuselah (champagne measure).
mahi in a neut (ancient Egyptian unit of
most field goals kicked in a Super Bowl game (football record): twice, by Don Chandler for Green Bay Packers against Oakland Raiders in
SB-II (1968); and by Ray Wersching for San Francisco 49ers against Cincinnati Bengals in SB-XVI (1982).
most Super Bowl wins by a coach (football record): by Chuck Noll for Pittsburgh Steelers, SB-IX, 1975; SB-X, 1976; SB-XII, 1978; SB-XIV,
1980.
most times named MVP in the NFL (football record): by Peyton Manning, 2003, 2004, 2008, and 2009.
most U.S Open golf tournaments won: four times, by Willie Anderson (1901, 1903–05), by Bobby Jones (1923, 1926, 1929–30), by Ben
Hogan (1948, 1950–51, 1953), and by Jack Nicklaus (1962, 1967, 1872, 1980).
noggins in a U.S. fluid pint.
number of Danish kings of England: first, Sweyn Forkbeard in 1013, for a few months interrupting the reign of the Saxon Ethelred II; then,
Canute from 1016; Harold I (Harefoot), 1035; Harthacanute, 1040–42, when Edward the Confessor restored the Saxon monarchy of
independent England.
number of gold medals won by the legendary Jesse Owens at the 1936 “Hitler Olympics” in Berlin, Germany: 100-m (Olympic record), 200-m
(world record), long jump, and 4 x 100-m relay. The outstanding performance by the African-American athlete shamed Hitler’s expectation
that the games would serve to display white supremacy.
number of House of Windsor monarchs of Great Britain, starting with George V, 1910; Edward VIII, 1936; George VI, 1936; to the present
Queen Elizabeth II, since 1952.
number of lawful wives allowed at a time to a Muhammadan, according to Surah 4 of the Quran.
number of lovebirds attending the Celtic love god, Aonghus. of nations in the United Kingdom: England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and
Wales.
number of Norman rulers of England, from William the Conqueror in 1066; William II (Rufus), 1087; Henry I (Beauclerc), 1100; Stephen 1135-
54. (The Plantagenet Dynasty followed.)
number of presidential electoral votes apportioned to each of the states of Hawaii, Idaho, Maine, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island. (May be
reapportioned for the 2012 election.)
number of presidents in the Provisional Government of France following World War II: Charles de Gaulle, 1944; Félix Gouin, 1946; Georges
Bidault, 1946; Léon Blum, 1946. (After Vichy.)
number of seats in the House of Representatives allotted to each of the states of Arkansas, Kansas, and Mississippi (as of the 2000
Census).
number of strings on a violin, a viola, a cello, and a double bass.
number of U.S. presidents named William: Henry Harrison, McKinley, Taft, and Clinton.
number thought to be unlucky in both Chinese and Japanese cultures. In both languages the word for “four” (in pinyin, cultures. In both
languages the word for “four” (in pinyin, “si”) sounds like the word for “death.”
the only number whose value is equal to the number of letters in its English name.
pecks in a bushel (dry measure).
percentage of the labor force in agriculture in 1970, compared with 52 percent in 1870. In 2009, it was less than 2 percent.
pice in an anna (former bronze coin of British India).
players on a polo team.
quarts in a gallon.
record number of home runs hit in a nine-inning baseball game: held by several players, the first in the “modern” period by New York Yankee
Lou Gehrig, on June 3, 1932, the most recent on September 5, 2003, by Carlos Delgado, with the Toronto Blue Jays.
retired baseball uniform number of:
➱ shortstop Luke Appling, retired by the Chicago White Sox.
➱ shortstop Joe Cronin, retired by the Boston Red Sox.
➱ first baseman Lou Gehrig, retired by the New York Yankees on July 4, 1939, ending his 2,130 consecutive game streak, the first
uniform number ever to be retired.
➱ outfielder Ralph Kiner, retired by the Pittsburgh Pirates.
➱ third baseman Paul Molitor, retired by the Milwaukee Brewers.
➱ outfielder Mel Ott, retired by the San Francisco Giants.
➱ outfielder Duke Snider, retired by the Los Angeles Dodgers.
➱ manager Earl Weaver, retired by the Baltimore Orioles.
retired basketball jersey number of:
➱ Adrian Dantley, retired by the Utah Jazz.
➱ Joe Dumars, retired by the Detroit Pistons.
➱ Wendell Ladner, retired by the New Jersey Nets.
➱ Sidney Moncrief, retired by the Milwaukee Bucks.
➱ Jerry Sloan, retired by the Chicago Bulls.
➱ Chris Webber, retired by the Sacramento Kings.
retired football jersey number of Tuffy Leemans, retired by the New York Giants.
retired hockey shirt number of:
➱ Barry Ashbee, retired by the Philadelphia Flyers.
➱ Jean Beliveau, retired by the Montreal Canadiens.
➱ Bobby Orr, retired by the Boston Bruins.
➱ Scott Stevens, retired by the New Jersey Devils.
rods in a chain (surveyor’s measure).
sides on a square, a rectangle, or a parallelogram, of any quadrilateral.
the smallest non-Fibonacci number.
the square of 2.
subchapter IV of the Uniform Code of Military Justice deals with court-martial jurisdiction.
sum of the first four Fibonacci numbers (0 + 1 + 1 + 2).
Title of the United States Code dealing with the flag and seal, the seat of government, and the states.
value of Roman numeral IV.
years in an Olympiad.
Anton Bruckner’s Symphony No. 4
“Romantic” symphony (in E-flat major).
au four
(in French, not a number): oven-baked.
The Big Four
U.S., Great Britain, France, and the Soviet Union; The countries that were most influential in international affairs after World War II.
Born on the Fourth of July
Ron Kovic’s 1976 best-selling memoir of his experience in the Vietnam War, and how it changed him from a gung ho marine into a peace
activist. Returning paralyzed from the chest down, and suffering further from poor treatment in VA hospitals, Kovic became the country’s most
ardent anti-Vietnam spokesman. The book was converted into a powerful film by Oliver Stone in 1989, with an intense performance by Tom
Cruise as Kovic, which won Stone the Best Director Oscar. Kovic co-wrote the screenplay.
Canon 4 of the American Bar Association Code of Professional Responsibility
a lawyer should preserve the confidences and secrets of a client.
F-4
U.S. Navy aircraft, the Phantom II, prized fighter of the Vietnam War.
Fearsome Foursome
nickname of the great defensive line of the Los Angeles Rams in the mid-1960s, made up of Lamar Lundy and David (Deacon) Jones,
tackles, and Merlin Olsen and Rosey Grier, ends.
Final Four
colloquial name for the national semifinals of the NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Championship tournament held each spring; one of the
nation’s most-watched sports events.
“Four Affirmations” in Shinto
1. tradition and the family
2. love of nature
3. physical cleanliness
4. “Matsuri,” the honoring and worship of the Kami and ancestral spirits.
four ages of history
according to Indian tradition: the Satya Yuga (golden age); the Treta Yuga, in which righteousness ( dharma) decreased by one-fourth; the
Dvapara Yuga, in which righteousness decreased by one-half; and the present Kali Yuga, in which righteousness has decreased by threefourths,
considered the most evil of all.
four ages of poetry
(Thomas Love Peacock, 1820): iron, gold, silver, and brass.
four aims of life (Purushartha)
according to Indian tradition: virtuous living (dharma), means of life (artha), pleasure (kama), and self-liberation (moksha).
four Alexandrian poets
250 BC): Apollonius, Theocritus, Bion, and Moschus.
four animals at the mouth of Ga-Oh’s cave
in Iroquoian myth, the Iroquoian Wind Giant had at the mouth of his cave a bear, a panther, a moose, and a fawn.
Four Archers
a mountain in the northeastern part of the Northern Territory of Australia.
Four Articles of Prague
demands for church reform in Bohemia, made in 1420 by followers of Jan Hus, including:
1. freedom to preach the word of God by others than adherents to the Church of Rome;
2. sacrament of the Eucharist in both kinds (bread and wine), to both priests and the laity alike;
3. exclusion of the clergy from secular activity
4. the clergy not to be exempted from civil law.
four Bacabs
the sons of Itzamna and Ixchel in Mayan mythology; the four Gods of the Cardinal Points of the Compass who hold up the four corners of the
sky: Mulac points north, Cauac points south, Kan points east, and Ix points west.
four-bagger
in baseball, a home run.
four bases of virtue in Buddhism
1. seeking truth
2. giving gifts
3. destroying karmic evils
4. cultivating wisdom.
four basic operations of arithmetic
addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.
four bells
time check on-board ship, signifies 2:00 or 6:00 or 10:00, A.M. or P.M.
four bits
slang for fifty cents.
four blood groups in humans
A, B, AB, and O.
Four Books
the four principal works in the Confucian canon: Analects of Confucius (Lun Yu), The Great Learning (Ta Hsueh), Book of Mencius (Meng
Tzu), and Doctrine of the Mean (Chung Yung), until recent times the primary textbooks in China’s education system. These four and the Five
Classics (q.v.) comprise the modern Confucian canon. (Yuan).
four books of the Veda
the sacred writings of Hinduism: Rig-Veda (hymns to the gods), Sama-Veda (priests’ chants), Athara-Veda (magical chants), Yajur-Veda
(sacrificial formulae in prose).
4 Boulevard du Palais
Paris address of La Sainte Chapelle, a Gothic chapel with impressive stained-glass windows, most dating from the thirteenth century.
Originally built by Louis IX to house what he believed to be Christ’s crown of thorns.
Four Branches of the Mabinogi
the main narrative of the Welsh “Mabinogion,” the tales of Pwyll, Branwen, Manawydan, and Math.
Four Brothers
Nickname of the saxophone section of Woody Herman’s big band in the late 1940s (The Second Herd). The band in that period featured the
saxes, and was frequently known as the Four Brothers Band. Also the name of their classic 1947 jazz recording, written by saxophonist
Jimmy Giuffre, and featuring Zoot Sims, Stan Getz, and Herbie Stewart on tenor saxes, and Serge Chaloff on baritone sax. The song was
recorded several times thereafter with variations in the personnel, after Al Cohn replaced Herbie Stewart.
Four Buttes
a town in northeastern Montana.
four-by-four
a car or truck having four forward speeds.
four C’s of a diamond
the factors that determine the value of the stone: carats, cut, color, and clarity.
“four calling birds”
the gift on the fourth day of Christmas in the carol “The Twelve Days of Christmas.”
Four Cardinal Principles
declared by Deng Xiaoping in 1979, these were four topics not open for discussion within the People’s Republic of China:
1. upholding the socialist path;
2. upholding the people’s democratic dictatorship;
3. upholding the leadership of the Communist Party of China
4.upholding Marxist-Leninist-Mao Zedong thought. Implied was that other issues not listed could be argued.
four cardinal (or heavenly) virtues
prudence, temperance, fortitude, and justice.
four castes
social strata in Hinduism: Brahmins or priests, rulers and warriors, merchants and farmers, peasants and laborers.
four chambers
mammalian hearts have four chambers.
four classes of the top Buddhist pantheon in modern Japan
1. the Nyorai class: the tathagata or buddhas
2. the Bosatsu class: bodhisattvas
3. the Myoo class: the vidyaraja or Kinds of Science in Tantrism
4.the Ten class: the deva or gods.
4 Clowns
a 1970 Robert Youngson anthology of some of the best silent comedy ever filmed. Includes Buster Keaton’s Seven Chances, Charley
Chase’s Limousine Love, and selections from Laurel and Hardy.
four-color process (CMYK)
used in printing; four colors (cyan, magenta, yellow, and black), on four separate plates, are combined in different intensities to produce a
vast array of other colors.
four-color theorem
any map can be constructed using only four colors so that no two contiguous countries with common borders are represented by the same
color.
four compounds comprising the major arcana of alchemy
vitriol, natron, liquor hepatic, and pulvis solaris.
Four-Corner Method
a system for encoding Chinese characters using four numerics for each character. The method was invented by Wang Yun-Wuu, editor in
chief of the Commercial Press of China in the 1920s.
Four Corners
(a) a location in southwestern U.S. where four states, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico, meet at a common point.
(b) a town in northeastern Wyoming, about 45 miles southeast of Sundance.
four corners offense
an ffensive strategy for stalling in a college basketball game, whereby four players would position themselves in the corners of the half-court
and pass the ball so that none held it for more than the maximum five seconds. The fifth man would take the center and watch for an
opportunity to drive the lane while defensive players were spread out, covering the four outside. Fans became so enraged at this technique
that the NCAA introduced a shot clock in 1985, disallowing such a freeze on the ball, and a three-point line a year later.
four corners of the earth
taken to mean “everywhere.”
four corners rule
a principle in law that any legal document be interpreted by the language used in its entirety (all “four corners”), ensuring that the intentions of
the parties are discerned by the plain meaning of the words chosen.
Four Crowned Martyrs
stone carvers of the third-century Yugoslavia who were martyred when they refused to carve an idol of Aesculapius for Diocletian.
four cycles of Irish sagas:
1. the Mythological Cycle (preserved in the Lebor Gabala) tells of the activities of the pagan Celtic gods.
2. the Ulster Cycle set in the reign of King Conchobar in pre-Christian Ireland, focuses on stories of the Irish hero Cuchulain.
3. the Fenian Cycle recounts the adventures of Fionn mac Cumhaill and his band of warriors, the Fianna.
4. the Historical Cycle (or Cycle of Kings) relates the exploits of characters in the early centuries of the Christian period.
Four Daughters
a heartwarming 1947 Warner Brothers film about four girls from a small town finding romance. Directed by Michael Curtiz, with three of the
four daughters played by the Lane sisters, Priscilla, Lola, and Rosemary.
Four Diamond Kings
four deities that protect Buddhist temples and work to defeat the enemies of Dharma: in the east, Dhritarashtra; in the south, Virudhaka; in the
west, Virupaksha; in the north, Vaishravana.
four dimensions
width, length, height, and time.
Four Discourses
those originally written by Indian masters and adopted as the canonical texts of the Buddhist four-discourse school:
1. Discourse on the Middle by Nagarjuna
2. Twelve-Gate Discourse by Nagarjuna
3. One-Hundred Verse Discourse by Aryadeva
4. Great Wisdom Discourse (Commentary on the Prajnaparamita Sutra) by Nagarjuna.
four distinctive emblems of Shinto
the bird’s nest, composed of two upright unpainted tree trunks with a third resting on their top and horizontal beam below; the “gohei,” a slim
wand of unpainted wood with two long pieces of paper notched alternately on opposite sides of it; the mirror; and the rope of rice straw.
four divisions of a classic tragedy
the protasis, the epistasis, the catastasis, and the catastrophe.
four-dollar gold piece
the “stella,” minted by the U.S. from 1879 to 1880.
four-down territory
in football, the area between the opposing team’s 30- and 40-yard lines, where a field-goal attempt seems risky, and a punt may not cover
enough ground to hold back the other team’s offense.
Four Dragon Kings
in Chinese mythology, the rulers of the seas and the four cardinal compass points: Ao Shun (north), Ao Ch’in (south), Ao Kuang (east), Ao Jun
(west).
Four Elementary Truths of Buddhism
1. both birth and death bring grief, and life is vain.
2. the cause of grief, and hence, the vanity of life, is indulgence of desire.
3. with the ending of desire will come surcease from grief.
4. the best way to end desire is by application of wisdom and intelligence to life.
four eyes
disparaging term for a person who wears glasses.
4-F
U.S. Selective Service classification of a candidate unfit for military service.
four faces of Fu Xi
in Chinese myth, the divinity Fu Xi has four faces, each overseeing one of the cosmic directions: north, south, east, and west.
Four Feathers
1939 classic adventure film about Harry Faversham, a staid Britisher who must vindicate himself from the charge of cowardice, starring John
Clements, Ralph Richardson, and C. Aubrey Smith. Rip-roaring battle scenes, and Smith’s memorable reenactment of Crimean War
skirmishes using nuts and fruits to portray the British “thin red line.” Filmed several times, as a silent film in 1915, 1921, and 1929, and with
sound again in 1955 (as Storm Over the Nile), 1977, and 2002, but the 1939 version is by far the best.
4 February
Kosciuszko Day, celebrated by Polish Americans on the birthday of Tadeusz Kosciuszko (1746), who fought with the colonists in the
Revolutionary War.
four flush
poker hand having four of the five cards of the same suit.
four-flusher
a person who can’t substantiate his pretensions; a braggart or pretender; a person who doesn’t pay his debts.
the fourfold great struggle
in Buddhism, to prevent trouble arising, to obliterate erroneous ideas that have arisen, to produce goodness which did not previously exist,
and to increase goodness which is already existent.
Four Forest Cantons
Unterwalden, Schwyz, Uri, and Lucerne: the first four Swiss communities to gain freedom from the Habsburgs after the 1315 battle of
Morgarten.
four forms of fearlessness
those attributed to a Buddha in preaching the Dharma:
1. in asserting that he has attained the perfect enlightenment;
2. in asserting that he has destroyed all defilements;
3. in pointing out evil passions of sentient beings; and
4. in expounding the method of emancipation.
Four Freedoms
espoused by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in his address to Congress on January 6,1941: freedom of speech, freedom of religion,
freedom from want, freedom from fear.
four fundamental constituents of DNA and RNA
adenine, cytosine, guanine, and thymine.
four fundamental forces of nature
gravity, the strong nuclear force, the weak nuclear force, and the electromagnetic force.
four giant gas planets in the solar system
Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune.
four gods of the Lakota Indians
Skan, Inyan, Maka, and Wi.
Four Gospels of the New Testament
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
four great mountain monasteries of China
each is associated withk a bodhisattva of Mahayana Buddhism; they are P’ut’o Mountain (off the coast of central China), Five Platform
Mountain (in northern China), Omei Mountain (in Szechuan Province), and Nine Flower Mountain (in Anhui Province).
Four Guardians of the Universe
also, Four Great Heavenly Kings. In Japanese mythology, four great deities living on Mount Sumeru who protect the world, each responsible
for one of the cardinal directions: Jijoku Tenno (east), Komoku Tenno (west), Bishamon Tenno (north), and Zojo Tenno (south).
4-H Club
a youth organization sponsored by the Department of Agriculture offering instruction in home economics and agriculture. (Its name reflects its
goals: to improve head, heart, hands, health.)
Four Heavenly Emperors
four Tao deities who are in charge of all things in Heaven and on Earth:
1. The Great Jade, Emperor (master of 10,000 spirits): in charge of the Dao of Heaven.
2. The Middle Heaven Great Emperor of the North Pole Star of Purple Subtlety: administers the sun, moon, and stars, as well as the
climates of the seasons.
3. The Great Heavenly Emperor of the Highest Palace of Polaris (at the pivot of Heaven): in charge of the three powers of Heaven,
Earth, and Man, and of wars in the human world.
4.Imperial God of Earth: in charge of the land, birds, rivers, and mountains.
Four Heavens of the Bon religion of ancient Tibet
Sipa Yesang (home of the procreator god Sangpo Bumtri); Sipa Gunsang (where the gods discuss the fate of the Earth); Barlha Wösel
(where the gods purify themselves); and the highest heaven, Gontsun Phyva (where the gods are educated).
Four Holy Truths of Buddhism
a set of principles concerning human existence, through which it is said Buddha achieved enlightenment: the holy truth concerning ill, the holy
truth concerning the cause of ill, the holy truth concerning the cessation of ill, and the holy truth concerning the path which leads to that
cessation.
four horsemen
in ten-pin bowling, the pins left standing after the first ball has hit: either 1, 2, 3, and 7, or 1, 3, 6, and 10.
Four Horsemen of Notre Dame
football backfield under coach Knute Rockne from 1922 to the Rose Bowl Game in 1925: Harry Stuhldreher, quarterback, Don Miller and Jim
Crowley, halfbacks, Elmer Layden, fullback. The name first appeared in an October 18, 1924, column by sports writer Grantland Rice after
Notre Dame’s 13-7 victory over Army.
Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
four horsemen, one each riding a white, red, black, and pale horse, representing personifications of the evils of war: respectively, conquest,
slaughter, famine, and death. (From the Revelation of Saint John the Divine, Revelation 6:2-8).
Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
widely read antiwar novel of 1916 by the Spanish author Vicente Blasco Ibáñez, about an Argentinean family that fights on opposing sides in
World War I. Made into an effective 1921 silent film directed by Rex Ingram, starring Rudolph Valentino dancing his famous tango. Remade
as a talkie in 1962, an ill-advised project of director Vincente Minnelli, with Glenn Ford, Charles Boyer, Lee J. Cobb, Paul Henreid, and Paul
Lukas.
four humors
black bile, yellow bile, phlegm, blood.
“Four Hymns to Love and Beauty”
a group of poems written by Edmund Spenser (1596).
Four Immortal Chaplains
when the U.S. Army troopship Dorchester was torpedoed off the coast of Greenland on February 3, 1943, four clergymen aboard perished
after giving up their own life jackets to waiting servicemen for whom none were available. They were: Father John Washington (Catholic),
Reverend Clark V. Poling (Dutch Reformed), Rabbi Alexander Goode (Jewish), and Reverend George L. Fox (Methodist). Of more than 900
men on the ship, only 230 survived.
four-in-hand
(a) a vehicle drawn by four horses; also called coach and four.
(b) a necktie tied in a slipknot with the two ends hanging loose.
4-iron
golf club equivalent to the earlier mashie iron.
4 July
Independence Day.
four kings
in a deck of cards, the four kings supposedly represent Charlemagne (Western European), David (Jewish), Alexander (Macedonian), and
Caesar (Roman) monarchies.
Four Ladies Bank
an area in the Indian Ocean adjacent to Prydz Bay, off Princess Elizabeth Land in Australian Antarctic Territory.
Four Lakes
a chain of lakes in southern Wisconsin: Mendota, Monona, Waubesa, and Kegonsa.
four-leaf clover
a clover with four leaves, rather than the usual three; considered to be a good-luck symbol.
four-legged burglar alarm
slang for a watchdog.
four-letter man
obsolete slang for a male homosexual, the four letters indicating H-O-M-O.
four-letter word
any of several short words generally regarded as being vulgar or obscene.
four levels of meaning
(as per Dante): the literal meaning, the moral meaning, allegorical meaning, and the anagogical meaning.
The Four Lings
four living Buddhas of Tibet, called Hutogtus, each empowered to serve as Prince Regent until the Dalai Lama became eighteen years old
and able to assume the reins of leadership. The four were Daingyailing, Gundeling, Cemoinling, and Xedeling.
four main currents of Tibetan Buddhism
the four schools: Nyingma (the “ancient school”), dating from the eighth century; Kagyu (“the transmitted word”), from the eleventh century;
Sakya (“gray earth”), also eleventh century; and Gelug (the “virtuous way”), founded in the fourteenth century.
4 March
Charter Day in Pennsylvania, commemorating the granting of the charter to William Penn by Charles II in 1681.
The Four Marys
(a) the constant companions of Mary, Queen of Scots (friends from her childhood): Mary Seaton, Mary Beaton, Mary Livingston, and Mary
Fleming.
(b) a Scottish folk song about Mary Hamilton, a young woman who is soon to be executed for abandoning to the sea her newborn baby,
fathered by the Queen’s husband. The ballad appeared in Sir Walter Scott’s 1802 Minstrelsy of the Scottish-Border.
Four Masters of Anhui
a group of Chinese artists painting in Anhui Province in the seventeenth century (Qing dynasty), who, separated from the mainstream currents
of Chinese art, developed their own styles. They are usually identified as the little-known Sun Yi and Wang Zhirui, and the well-known Zha
Shibiao and Hongren.
Four Masters of the Yuan Dynasty
Chinese painters who were active during the Yuan period (1260–1368) but gained stature during the succeeding Ming Dynasty. Adherents of
the school of literati painting, which focused on individual expression instead of visual appeal, their names were Wu Zhen, Huang Gongwang,
Ni Zan, and Wang Meng.
4 May
Rhode Island Independence Day, celebrated as the day in 1776 when the state declared independence, two months before the Continental
Congress did so for the nation as a whole.
four meanings of poetry
(per I. A. Richards): the sense (what is actually said), the feeling (the writer’s emotional attitude toward it), the tone (the writer’s attitude toward
his reader), and the intention (the writer’s purpose; the effect he hopes to produce).
four means of attaining knowledge
(according to the Nyaya school of Indian philosophy): perception, inference, comparison, testimony.
The Four Million
a 1906 collection of O. Henry stories, containing arguably the author’s most famous, “The Gift of the Magi.” The title, reflecting the actual
population of New York City at the time, was chosen as a corrective to the widely quoted remark by Ward McAllister that there were only 400
people in New York society.
four minor Arcana face cards in a Tarot deck
page, knight, queen, king.
four-minute mile
once thought to be an unassailable barrier, until runner Dr. Roger Bannister set a new record of 3:59.4 on May 6, 1954, in Oxford, England.
The best time has gradually shortened since then; the current record is 3:43.13, set by Hicham El Guerrouj of Morocco, in Rome, Italy, on July
7, 1999.
“Four Minutes Thirty-Three Seconds”
1952 musical composition by John Cage, in which the musicians sit through three silent movements of thirty seconds; two minutes, twentythree
seconds; and one minute, forty seconds with their instruments poised but never playing even one note.
Four Modernizations
the goals of Deng Xiaoping’s reform program, first introduced by Zho Enlai in 1976: agriculture, industry; science and technology, and the
military. These constituted a reversal of Mao Zedong’s policy of economic self-reliance.
Four Noble Truths of Buddhism
the central core of Buddhist religious doctrine, as taught by Gautama Buddha:
1. suffering is omnipresent;
2. its cause is in the indulgence of desire;
3. elimination of desire will relieve the suffering;
4. the best way to eliminate desire is through the Noble Eightfold Path (q.v.).
Four Noes and One Without
a pledge by President Chen Shui-bian of the Republic of China made at his inauguration address on May 20, 2000, regarding the political
status of Taiwan. Provided that the People’s Republic of China does not attack Taiwan militarily, Chen’s administration will not the following
(the “Four Noes”):
1. declare Taiwanese independence;
2. change the national title from “The Republic of China” to “The Republic of Taiwan”;
3. include the doctrine of state-to-state relations in the Constitution of the Republic of China;
4. promote a referendum on unification or independence.
the “One Without ” was that Chen pledged not to abolish the National Unification Council.
4 November
birthday of Will Rogers in 1879, celebrated as a state holiday in Oklahoma.
four-o
slang for “excellent,” from U.S. Navy use indicating highest efficiency rating of officers.
Four Oaks
a northern suburb of West Bromwich, England.
four-o’clock
an ornamental plant native to tropical America; its name derives from its flowers opening in late afternoon, and closing by the following
morning.
four offerings
prescribed items that can be offered to the Buddha: food and drink, clothes, bed, medicinal drink.
four on the floor
designates an automobile with a four-speed transmission operated by a manual shift protruding from the floor next to the driver’s seat.
four orders of mendicant friars
Dominicans, Franciscans, Augustinians, Carmelites.
The Four P’s
an entertainment featuring a palmer, a pardoner, and a pothecary, with a pedlar acting judge, to determine who can tell the biggest lie. By
John Heywood; performed about 1520, published 1544.
Four Paths
a town in the south-central part of the island of Jamaica.
four-penny nail
a carpenter’s common nail, 1-½ inches long (coded 4d).
four-point average
the highest level of grade point average; an academic rating system in which A = 4, B = 3, etc. The GPA is the weighted mean average of all
grade points in all courses.
Four-Point Plan
Harry Truman’s economic plan promoted in his inaugural address on January 20, 1949:
1. continue support of the UN;
2. continue the Marshall Plan for world economic recovery;
3 .extend collective defense agreements against communist aggression;
4 .develop a program for aid to undeveloped nations.
4-point type
typographer’s measure, known as “brilliant.”
four-poster
a bed having four tall corner posts, originally intended to hold a canopy.
Four-Power Pacific Treaty
an agreement of December 13, 1921, among Great Britain, France, Japan, and the United States, by which each country guaranteed to
respect the others’ rights in island territorial possessions in the Pacific Ocean.
Four-Power Pact
agreement signed on July 15, 1933, between Great Britain, France, Italy, and Germany; impelled by Mussolini, who wanted to replace the
influence of small countries in the League of Nations by a coalition of major powers.
four prohibitions of Confucius
do not be swayed by personal opinion; recognize no inescapable necessity; do not be stubborn; do not be self-centered.
“Four Quartets”
a four-part poem by T.S. Eliot, published between 1936 and 1942, considered by many critics as his major poetic work.
four questions
in Judaism, the traditional four questions on the meaning of the Seder service (subsumed under the general question, “Why is this night
different from all other nights?”), asked by the youngest boy at Passover Seder and answered by reading from the Haggadah:
1. On all other nights of the year we eat leavened bread and matzoh, but why on this night do we eat only matzoh?
2. On all other nights of the year we eat many kinds of herbs, but why on this night do we eat mainly bitter herbs?
3. On all other nights of the year we do not dip even once, but why on this night do we dip twice?
4. On all other nights of the year we eat either sitting upright or reclining, but why on this night do we eat only reclining?
four rivers in the Garden of Eden
Pison, Gihon, Hiddekel, and Euphrates (Genesis 2:11-14).
4, St. James Place
London residence of Frederic Chopin.
Four Saints in Three Acts
an opera in four acts [sic] by Virgil Thomson, with libretto by Gertrude Stein, first produced in 1934. The four saints are St. Theresa, St.
Ignatius, and the fictional St. Settlement and St. Chavez; the action is set in sixteenth-century Spain.
The Four Seasons
Antonio Vivaldi’s most famous composition, consisting of four concertos accompanying four sonnets written by the composer.
four seasons of the year
summer, autumn, winter, spring.
fhe four senses
the four modes of scriptural interpretation: literal, allegorical, moral, anagogical.
four sheets to the wind
slang for “drunk.”
four silver stars
insignia of a full general of the U.S. Army.
four sons of Entoria
Janus, Hymnus, Faustus, and Felix; fathered by Saturn, they provided the four faces on the altar decoration in the temple of Saturn at the foot
of the Capitol in ancient Rome.
four stages of life
in Indian philisiphy: student (period of learning), householder (family life, period of emotional development), impending retirement (period of
intellect and thoughtfulness), meditation (earlier three are melded and the inner man gets attention).
four-star
of superlative quality.
Four Star Playhous
dramatic TV anthology featuring Dick Powell, with rotating stars, on CBS from September 1952 through September 1956.
four-striper
a U.S. Navy captain.
four suits of a playing card deck
correspond to social divisions: spades (the military and nobles), hearts (the church), diamonds (commerce), and clubs (the common men).
fourth
British slang for a privy, a latrine.
Fourth Amendment to the Constitution
provides protection from unreasonable search and seizure.
Fourth Arrondissement
section of Paris containing Notre Dame Cathedral.
Fourth Avenue
in New York City, the extension of Park Avenue below 32nd Street.
Fourth Cataract
a section of white water in the Nile River, north of Merowe in northern Sudan.
fourth-class mail
class of mail in the U.S. postal system including merchandise and some printed matter, weighing 8 ounces and unsealed for inspection
purposes.
Fourth Commandment
Thou shalt keep holy the Sabbath day.
Fourth Crusade
initiated by Pope Innocent III in 1202, with the aim of conquering Egypt and then proceeding to the Holy Land, the Crusade leaders were
pressured by the Venetians to turn on Constantinople, which they eventually sacked in 1204 for its rich spoils.
fourth dimension
time regarded as a scalable dimension, required by relativity theory, along with three spatial dimensions, to specify the location of any event.
fourth estate
the press; class of society other than the clergy, the nobility, and the common people.
Fourth French War of Religion
provoked by the murder of Gaspard de Coligny, French Protestant leader, on St. Bartholomew’s Day (August 24, 1572), and the subsequent
three-day massacre of some 2,000 Huguenots in Paris and the provinces. Ended dy the Edict of Boulogne, July 8, 1573. The St.
Bartholomew’s Day Massacre, as it came to be called, radicalized many survivors, created a strong distrust of the king, and led to Huguenots
organizing and creating their own armies for defense against the Catholics.
Fourth International
a loose federation of small socialist groups attempted by Leon Trotsky in Mexico in 1937, antagonistic to Moscow.
Fourth Lateran Council
the most important of the Lateran Councils, held in 1215 under Pope Innocent III. Among its significant decrees, it proclaimed the dogma of
transubstantiation, required Catholics to observe annual confession and receive the Eucharist at Easter, set rules for episcopal elections,
condemned Albigensian and Catharist heresies, and forbade trial by battle. It also called for a new Crusade.
Fourth of July
(a) America’s birthday, 1776; Declaration of independence, written almost totally by Thomas Jefferson, is approved by the Continental
Congress, meeting in Philadelphia.
(b) rhyming slang for a tie.
Fourth of March Speech
1850 address to Congress by John Calhoun attacking Henry Clay’s Compromise of 1850. Calhoun asked that the North return fugitive slaves
and suggested that a Constitutional Amendment be added, restoring the balance between the North and the South.
fourth position
in ballet, the position in which the feet are slightly apart and parallel, at right angles to the direction of the body, toes pointing out in opposite
directions, heels in line front to back, with one foot forward of the other.
fourth president
James Madison, March 4, 1809–March 3, 1817.
4-3
in football, the most widely used defensive formation: four linemen backed by three linebackers.
Fourth Republic
the republic established in France in 1946, following the German occupation 1940–44 and the provisional government of 1944–46; replaced
by the Fifth Republic in 1958.
fourth state of the Union
Georgia ratified the Constitution on January 2, 1788.
fourth wall
in the thater, the imaginary fourth side of a box, separating the audience from the actors on stage.
Fourth Way School
the esoteric teachings of George Ivanovich Gurdjieff, going beyond the traditional three ways of the fakir, the monk, and the yogi. This new
religion uses arduous physical exercise to reach a higher level of consciousness.
fourth wedding anniversary gift
linen or silk is customary.
fourth wheel
the wheel in a watch that drives the escape pinion.
4 to
quarto: the page size of a book from printer’s sheets that are folded into four leaves, about 9-½ x 12 inches.
4-to-an-em
in printing, an obsolete measure of spacing (equal to 1/4 em) used to justify a typographical line (i.e., spread out the words to fill the line to the
margins); known also as a “thin space.”
4 to 3
the odds against being dealt a pair in five-card poker.
Four Transcendent Lords
the main peaceful Tibetan Bon gods: Satrig Ersang (great mother goddess), Shenlha Okar (god of wisdom or of light), Sangpo Bumtri (the
procreator), and Tönpa Shenrab (the teacher).
4 Wheaton 316
citation for the Supreme Court decision in McCulloch v. Maryland (1819), in which the Court, under Chief Justice Marshall, ruled that
Congress had the authority to establish a national bank, thereby establishing the supremacy of the federal government over the states.
four-wheel drive
an automotive drive system in which engine power is transmitted to all four wheels for greater traction.
four wide ones
in baseball, base on balls.
Four Wind Gods
in Greek mythology, the sons of Astraeus and Eos: Boreas, god of the North Wind; Eurus, god of the East Wind; Notus, god god of the South
Wind; and Zephyrus, god of the West Wind.
4-wood
golf club, sometimes called a baffie.
Four-Year Plan
Adolf Hitler’s agenda, proposed October 19, 1936, to have the German army and the German economy ready for war within four years. To
this end he launched a program to build highways for the army, which by 1938 had built 3,000 kilometers of roads costing an estimated six
million marks.
Gang of Four
a group of Communist functionaries who tried to seize power after the death of Mao Zedong in 1976: his widow, Jiang Qing; and three
Shanghai politicians, Zhang Chunqiao, Wang Hongwen, and Yao Wenyuan. The coup failed, and in 1980 they were tried and found guilty of
treason.
Group 4 elements (of the Periodic Table)
titanium (22), zirconium (40), hafnium (72), rutherfordium (104).
Islands of the Four Mountains
a section of the Aleutian Islands chain in Alaska.
Lagrange’s four-square theorem
states that every positive integer can be written as the sum of at most four square numbers. Three are not always sufficient.
Mendelssohn’s Fourth Symphony
“Italian” symphony (in A major).
most shutouts pitched in world series games
total of four (baseball record): by Christy Mathewson for New York Giants against Philadelphia Athletics, 1905 (three times), and 1913, same
teams.
the name of God
in most languages, God’s name is spelled in four letters, e.g., in Hebrew, JHVH (JeHoVaH); In Latin, Deus; in Greek, Θεóς (Theos); in
French, Dieu; in German, Gott; in Spanish, Dios; in Dutch, Godt; in Swedish, Goth; in Egyptian, Deva; etc.
number 4 billiard ball
the ball that is conventionally solid purple.
number 4 wood screw
a screw with a screw shank diameter of 7/64 inches.
on all fours
on one’s hands and knees.
Operation T-4
the Nazis’ October 1939 program for euthanizing Germans who were disabled physically or mentally, and thus deemed “unworthy of life” by
not conforming with the Third Reich’s concept of “racial integrity.”
the phases of the moon
full, waning, new, waxing.
plus fours
long baggy knickers for men, popular in the 1910s through the 1930s, worn as sports clothing, especially for golf. So called because four
inches were added to regular knickers to provide the bagginess below the knees.
quadrilateral
a polygon of four sides.
Quadrilateral
four famous fortresses in Italy between Lombardy and Venice: Mantua, Peschiera, Legnano, and Verona.
quadrivium
the four studies of the higher division of the seven liberal arts in the Middle Ages: geometry, arithmetic, astronomy, and music.
Quadruple Alliance
Any one of several European alliances:
(a) of 1718: Austria, Britain, France, and the United Prov inces (Netherlands) allied to prevent Spain from annexing Sardinia and Sicily.
(b) of March 1814: Austria, Britain, Prussia, and Russia joined forces to defeat the French emperor Napoleon; this alliance was
renewed in 1815 and 1818.
(c) of 1834: Britain, France, Portugal, and Spain joined together to defend the constitutional monarchies of Spain and Portugal against
the Carlists.
quartet
a musical group composed of four instruments or four voices.
Schubert’s Fourth Symphony
“Tragic” symphony (in C minor).
The Sign of the Four
the second of Arthur Conan Doyle’s (he was not yet “Sir”) Sherlock Holmes novels, first appearing in 1890. Subsequent editions and
serializations frequently shortened the title to four words, The Sign of Four. The story has been filmed at least nine times, the earliest in 1913
with Harry Benham as Holmes.
stella
U.S. four dollars gold pieces, minted by the U.S. from 1879 to 1880.
004
Decimal ASCII code for [end of transmission] .
Dewey Decimal System designation for books on data processing and computer science.
3
Article of the U.S. Uniform Commercial Code that deals with commercial paper.
atomic number of the chemical element lithium, symbol Li. number of Agent Napoleon Solo, played by Robert Vaughn, on the NBC-TV spy
spoof, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964–68).
badge number of W. C. Fields’s character, Egbert Sousé, in the 1940 comedy film, The Bank Dick.
Beaufort number for wind force of 8 to 12 miles per hour, called “gentle breeze.”
considered a favorable number in Chinese culture because the word for “three” sounds like the word for “alive.”
dental chart designation for the right first molar.
dimensions in pre-Einsteinian space: length, height, and width.
feet in a yard.
gauge (number) of a wood screw with the shank diameter of 3/32 of an inch.
the great river goddesses of India: Ganga, Yamuna, and Saraswati.
a group of three is called a triad.
in astrology, the number 3 is ruled by the planet Jupiter.
in baseball, 3 represents the first baseman’s position.
inches in a palm (linear measure).
in football, the number of points scored for a field goal.
in Hebrew, the numerical value of the letter gimel.
in mineralogy, Mohs Hardness Scale level characterized by calcite; can be scratched by a copper coin.
in numerology, a number associated with sexual potency and procreation.
ISBN group identifier for books published in German-speaking areas: Germany, Austria, and German-speaking Switzerland.
kabs in a hin (ancient Hebrew measure of liquid capacity).
magnums in a Rehoboam (champagne measure).
number of counties in the state of Delaware.
number of decimal places in the inverse multiple designated by the International System prefix milli-, written “m-”.
number of Earth orbits by Lieutenant Colonel John H. Glenn Jr. in the Mercury capsule Friendship 7, on February 20, 1962, the first U.S.
astronaut to achieve orbit.
number of emperors of France. First empire: Napoleon I, 1894, and Louis XVIII, 1814–15. Second empire: Napoleon III 1852–70. (The Third
Republic followed.) • number of eyes on Shiva, the Hindu god of ascetics and the Great Yogi.
number of films that have won all four major Academy Awards (Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Actress): It Happened One
Night (1934), One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975), and The Silence of the Lambs (1991).
number of Job’s daughters (Job 1:2).
number of Lancastrian rulers of England: Henry IV, 1399; Henry V, 1413; Henry VI, 1422 and 1470–71. (The Yorkist Dynasty followed.)
number of presidential electoral votes apportioned to each of the states of Alaska, Delaware, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota,
Vermont, Wyoming, and the District of Columbia. (May be reapportioned for the 2012 election.)
number of rings around the planet Jupiter, found by Voyager 1.
of seats in the House of Representatives allotted to each of the states of Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and West Virginia (as of the
2000 Census).
number of Yorkist rulers of England: Edward IV, 1461 and 1471; Edward V, 1483; Richard III, 1483–85. (The Tudor Dynasty followed.)
number of 0s in the multiple designated by the International System prefix kilo-, written “K-”.
retired baseball uniform number of:
➱ outfielder Earl Averill, retired by the Cleveland Indians.
➱ outfielder Harold Baines, retired by the Chicago White Sox.
➱ infielder Harmon Killebrew, retired by the Minnesota Twins.
➱ outfielder Dale Murphy, retired by the Atlanta Braves.
➱ outfielder Babe Ruth, retired by the New York Yankees.
➱ first baseman Bill Terry, retired by the San Francisco Giants.
retired basketball jersey number of:
➱ Dennis Johnson, retired by the Boston Celtics.
➱ Drazen Petrovic, retired by the New Jersey Nets.
retired football jersey number of:
➱ Tony Canadeo, retired by the Green Bay Packers.
➱ Bronko Nagurski, retired by the Chicago Bears.
➱ Jan Stenerud, retired by the Kansas City Chiefs.
retired hockey shirt number of:
➱ Ken Daneyko, retired by the New Jersey Devils.
➱ Bob Gassoff, retired by the St. Louis Blues.
➱ Al Hamilton, retired by the Edmonton Oilers.
➱ Lionel Hitchman, retired by the Boston Bruins.
➱ Harry Howell, retired by the New York Rangers.
➱ Keith Magnuson and Pierre Pilote, both retired by the Chicago Blackhawks.
➱ J. C. Tremblay, retired by the Quebec Nordiques.
scruples in a dram (apothecary’s measure).
seahs in an ephah (ancient Hebrew measure of dry capacity). on a triangle.
the smallest odd prime number.
statute miles in a league.
teaspoons in a tablespoon.
three central figures of Indian philosophy: Shankara, Ramanuja, and Madhva.
three days and three nights that Jonah spent in the belly of the whale (Jonah 1:17).
three feet; height of a tennis net in the center, rising to three-and-a-half feet at the supporting posts.
three-headed, fire-breathing son of Vulcan, named Cacus.
three inches: diameter of a regulation hockey puck (by one inch thick, weighing between five-and-a-half and six ounces).
three percent of the world’s water is fresh water; the remainder is saline.
three years:
➱ the age of all horses that run in the Kentucky Derby.
➱ the average life of a ten dollar bill.
Title of the California Penal Code, Part I, that deals with “offenses against the sovereignty of the state.”
Title of the United States Code dealing with the President.
the TV channel usually used for connecting VCRs or cable systems.
value of Roman numeral III.
wheels on a tricycle.
anapest
a metrical foot of three syllables, two short (unstressed) followed by one long (stressed).
apartment 3B
at 1030 East Tremont Avenue in the Bronx, home of Molly Goldberg and her family, on the TV sitcom The Goldbergs, starring Gertrude Berg.
Avasthas
in yoga, the three stages of consciousness all humans experience: the waking state (jagrat), the dreaming state (swapna), and the deep
sleep state (sushupti).
barleycorn
an old measure of length equal to one-third of an inch.
Beethoven’s Third Symphony
“Eroica” symphony (in E-flat major).
Berlioz’s Third Symphony
“Romeo and Juliet” symphony (in E-flat major).
The Big Three
so named powers that attended the Yalta Conference in February 1945 to plan for dealing with post-World War II Europe. Roosevelt (for the
U.S.), Churchill (for Great Britain), and Stalin (for Russia) agreed to partition Germany into four occupation zones, agreed to aid postwar
governments in liberated nations, and created a voting procedure for the Security Council of the soon-to-be United Nations. In return for
concessions in Asia, Russia also agreed to declare war on Japan within ninety days of Germany’s defeat. Most of these arrangements
remained secret until after the war.
Camera Three
a Sunday-morning local TV show on WCBS New York that offered innovative programming on literature, music, and the arts. The highly
acclaimed show, which lasted from January 1956 to January 1979, won an Emmy in 1966.
Canon 3 of the American Bar Association Code of Professional Responsibility
a lawyer should assist in preventing the unauthorized practice of law.
Cape Three Points
a knob of land in southwest Ghana on the Gulf of Guinea.
China’s Three Sage Kings
from prehistory: Yao, Shun, and Yu the Great.
the Christian Trinity
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
director Steven Spielberg’s intelligent 1977 sci-fi film about Earth’s first contact with aliens, featuring Richard Dreyfuss, Françcois Truffaut,
and Teri Garr. Notable for its superb special effects and memorable score by John Williams.
Copland’s Third Symphony
“Quiet City” symphony, for organ and orchestra. Based on music written for Irwin Shaw’s play of the same name. This symphony uses
Copland’s “Fanfare for the Common Man” as its climax.
CV-3
number of the U.S Navy aircraft carrier, USS Saratoga. Sunk in atomic bomb tests at Bikini Atoll, June 25, 1946.
dactyl
metrical foot of three syllables, one long (stressed) followed by two short (unstressed).
DC-3
called the most successful passenger plane ever flown, the Douglas Commercial 3 entered service with American Airlines in 1936. Designed
to fly above most bad weather, at an altitude ceiling over 20,000 feet, the twin-engine DC-3 exhibited a number of innovative features,
including retractable landing gear, wing flaps, and variable-pitch propellers. Production ended in 1944.
double eagle
a golf score of three strokes under par on a hole.
“fiddlers three”
a line from the nursery rhyme, “Old King Cole”:
Old King Cole was a merry old soul,
A merry old soul was he.
He called for his pipe,
He called for his bowl,
And he called for his fiddlers three.
“Goldilocks and the Three Bears”
children’s story about a young girl who wanders into the home of the three bears in the woods, tastes their porridge, sits in their chairs, and
finally falls asleep in one of their beds, the papa bear’s bed being too hard, the mama bear’s, too soft, but the baby bear’s bed being just
right.
Group 3 elements (of the Periodic Table)
scandium (21), yttrium (39), lutetium (71), lawrencium (103).
hat trick
in ice hockey, scoring three goals in one game.
the Horae
in Greek mythology, goddesses of the seasons, of death and rebirth. Hesiod called them Eunomia (order), Dike (justice), and Eirene (peace).
The Athenians knew them as Thallo, Auxo, and Carpo.
I Led Three Lives
a McCarthy-era propaganda TV series reflecting the Red scare of the period, syndicated from May 1952 to mid-1956. Purported to recount
the experiences of Herbert A. Philbrick (played by Richard Carlson), a Boston ad exec who infiltrated the Communist Party as a counterspy
for the FBI.
Later Three Years’ War
Minamoto no Yoshiie, governor of the Mutsu province, put down a revolt by the Kiyowara family in northern Japan, 1083–87, adding to the
military prestige of the Minamoto clan.
Law of the Three
George Ivanovich Gurdjieff’s rules for the workings of the universe (active, passive, and neutral) and the human body (carnal, emotional, and
spiritual).
Leonard Bernstein’s Symphony No. 3
“Kaddish” symphony.
Lesser Three Gorges
A scenic waterway off the Yangtze River in China noted for its 2,000-year-old hanging coffins of the Ba people and an ancient plank road cut
into the side of the cliff.
Mendelssohn’s Third Symphony
“Scottish” symphony (in A minor).
My Three Sons
long-lived TV situation comedy of a widowed father and his male brood, starring Fred MacMurray. Ran on ABC from September 1960 to
September 1965, then on CBS until August 1972. In the last few years, the three sons were played by three real-life brothers: Robbie,
Charley, and Steve Douglas Jr.
Newton’s Third Law of Motion
to every action there is an equal and opposing reaction.
the Norns
in Norse mythology, three goddesses of fate who tend the Yggdrasil, the Tree of Life. They are the past, present, and future, controlling a
person’s destiny: Urd (who manages Fate), Verdandi (who does the present), and Skuld (the future).
number 3 billiard ball
the ball that is conventionally solid red.
Prokofiev’s Third Symphony
“Lieutenant Kijé” symphony (in C minor).
Richard III
Shakespeare’s take on the much maligned monarch, who is best known to high school students for his cry at the 1485 Battle of Bosworth
Field: “A horse. A horse! My kingdom for a horse!” The great Bard’s play was adapted for a film in 1956, with Laurence Olivier doing double
duty, both directing and playing a humanized Richard. The British Film Academy awarded it Best British Film, Best Film, and Best Actor; the
Oscar that year went to Yul Brynner for his role in The King and I. An updated and somewhat sensationalized version (set in the 1930s) was
filmed in 1995, with Ian McKellen as Richard, reprising his performance in his very successful stage presentation.
Schumann’s Third Symphony
“Rhenish” symphony (in E-flat major).
Sergeants 3
Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack in a lukewarm 1962 rewrite of Gunga Din as a Western. John Sturges directed, Sinatra produced, and
Sammy Davis Jr. played the Sam Jaffe role.
Shostakovich’s Third Symphony
“First of May” symphony (in E-flat major).
The Stranger on the Third Floor
1940 film in which Peter Lorre (the Stranger) may or may not have committed murder. Notable is the weird dream sequence that occupies a
large part of the film. All but forgotten, this gripping film is credited with being the first film noir.
Tchaikovsky’s Third Symphony
“Polish” symphony (in D major).
These Three
William Wyler directed this first film version of Lillian Hellman’s The Children’s Hour, which substitutes a heterosexual triangle for the original
play’s lesbian story. This 1936 Oscar-nominated film starred Miriam Hopkins, Merle Oberon, and Joel McCrea.
Third Amendment to the Constitution
establishes conditions for the quartering of soldiers.
Third Cataract
a section of white water in the Nile River, north of Kerma in northern Sudan.
third-class mail
class of mail in the U.S. postal system, including all printed matter, except newspapers and magazines, that weighs less than 16 ounces and
is unsealed.
Third Commandment
Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord in vain.
Third Crusade
Pope Gregory VIII preached the crusade following the 1187 recapture of Jerusalem by Saladin, and in 1189 the third began, directed by
several of Euope’s leading figures: Richard I of England, Philip II of France, and Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor. Frederick died in Cilicia in
1190, and after the strained alliance of English and French, retook after the strained alliance of English and French, retook Acre from the
Muslims in 1191, Philip returned home. Richard fashioned a truce with Saladin in 1192 and left the Holy Land that year.
third degree
rough or prolonged mental or physical coercion used to compel a prisoner to confess or to release information.
third-degree burn
in which skin and its underlying tissue are destroyed and sensitive nerve endings are exposed, sometimes accompanied by shock.
third estate
the common people as a class of society.
Third French War of Religion
undeterred by the 1658 Peace of Longjumeau, the Catholic Cardinal de Lorraine devised a plot to capture the Huguenot leaders, Duc de
Condé and Admiral de Coligny, and thus devalue Huguenot influence in France. The plot failed, and Condé and Coligny raised another army
to begin a third war, in which Huguenot forces suffered several defeats. But with coffers severely depleted by the war, the crown negotiated
yet another peace, finalized at St. Germain in 1570. The fighting in central and southern France had extended the suffering to new areas and
further increased tensions between Catholics and Protestants.
Third House
in astrology, deals with thinking and communicating.
Third International
also called the Comintern; organized by the Bolsheviks in 1919 to coordinate Communist activities worldwide, advocating revolution to
achieve their ends. Dissolved in 1943.
Third Lateran Council
in 1179 by Pope Alexander III in order to settle political conflicts between the Vatican and Frederick I of Germany. Also known as the eleventh
ecumenical council, it prescribed a two-thirds majority of cardinals to elect a pope.
Third Law of Thermodynamics
the entropy of a substance approaches zero as its temperature approaches absolute zero, but absolute zero can never be reached.
third lieutenant
one who has competed his/her officer’s training, but has as yet not been commissioned.
The Third Man
Graham Greene’s novel of intrigue set in Vienna after after World War II, which became the basis for a tense 1950 film starring Joseph
Cotten and Orson Welles, directed by Carol Reed.
Third Order
in Roman Catholicism, a branch of a religious order whose members are laypeople leading secular lives.
Third Order of Saint Francis
the Brothers and Sisters of Penance, founded in 1221; for men and women who live in a state between the world and the cloister, who
engage in ordinary professions of secular life but are dedicated to Franciscan service through vow and discipline. Called tertiaries, they may
be men or women, single or married, may or may not be celibate, may or may not live in a community, but have made a lifetime commitment
to the rule of penance.
third party
(a) any new American polical group offering an alternative to Republicans and Democrats.
(b) a person who is involved only incidentally in a legal proceeding.
third person
in grammar, the person referred to, other than the speaker or the person spoken to.
third position
in ballet, position in which the feet are at right angles to the direction of the body, toes pointing out in opposite directions, one foot directly in
front of the other, with the heel of each foot touching the middle of the other foot.
third president
Thomas Jefferson, March 4, 1801 to March 3, 1809.
third rail
the rail that carries the high voltage powering an electric railway.
Third Reich
designates the German State from 1933 to 1945, the Nazi period, under the leadership of Adolf Hitler.
Third Republic
the French Republic from the fall of the Commune (1871) until the German occupation in 1940.
3rd Rock from the Sun
TV comedy series about an alien family learning the mores of living on Earth, with John Lithgow, Kriste, Johnston, Joseph Gordon-Levitt,
French Stewart, and Jane Curtin. Debuted on January 9, 1996, with the last show airing on May 22, 2001.
third state of the Union
New Jersey ratified the Constitution on December 18, 1787.
The Third Violet
1897 novel by Stephen Crane about a young artist’s infatuation with a rich girl, reflecting Crane’s hopeless love affair with actress Helen Trent
when he was nineteen.
third wedding anniversary gift
leather is customary.
third wheel
a superfluous person who contributes nothing to a social event or a task that must be completed.
Third World
collectively, the developing countries of Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
Three-Age System
a system for classifying prehistoric artifacts according to stages of technological development, divided into Stone, Bronze, and Iron Ages.
three attributes of discourse
(Roman): the composito, the elegantia, and the dignitas.
three B’s
the great composers of classical music: Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750), Ludwig von Beethoven (1770–1827), and Johannes Brahms
(1833–97).
three-bagger
in baseball, a triple; a three-base hit.
“three bags full”
line from the nursery rhyme:
Baa, baa, black sheep,
Have you any wool?
Yes, sir, yes, sir,
Three bags full.
One for my master,
One for my dame,
And one for the little boy
Who lives down the lane.
three basic texts of Vedanta
the chief Hindu philosophy: the Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, the Brahma-Sutras. Together, they are called Prasthanatraya —the triple crown
of the Vedanta.
“Three Baskets of the Law”
holy writings of the Buddhists, the Tripitaka:“Abhidhamma Pitaka,” metaphysical and philosophical doctrines; “Vinaya Pitaka,” the law and
regulations of discipline; and “Sutta Pitaka,” the parables and sermons of Gautama.
three bells
time check on-board ship signifies 1:30 or 5:30 or 9:30, A.M. or P.M.
The Three Black Pennys
1917 three-part novel by Joseph Hergesheimer following the rise and fall of a family involved with the Pennsylvania iron industry.
“Three Blind Mice”
the nursery rhyme:
Three blind mice. Three blind mice.
See how they run. See how they run.
They all ran after the farmer’s wife,
Who cut off their tails with a carving knife.
You never saw such a sight in your life
As three blind mice.
three brass balls
(a) the conventional symbol of a pawn shop.
(b) the family crest of the Medici family of Florence, Italy.
Three Bridges
a town in Somerset County, New Jersey.
The Three Caballeros
1944 Disney film inventively combining live and animated sequences, with music from several Latino composers. Sequences move from
Mexico to Brazil and back to Mexico.
Three Came Home
1954 film with Claudette Colbert in a fine performance as American writer Agnes Keith, imprisoned during World War II in a Japanese
internment camp, administered by Colonel Suga (played by Sessue Hayakawa). Based on the book by Agnes Keith.
three-card monte
a gambling game in which the dealer shows three cards to a player, then turns them face down, shuffles them, and the player tries to identify
the position of a particular card. Much favored by street hustlers.
three-cent piece
U.S. coin minted in silver from 1851 to 1873, and in nickel from 1865 to 1889.
Three Charities
(See Three Graces).
three cheers
the customary commendation in recognition of a job well done.
three children of Llyr, God of Wales
Bendigeidfran, Branwen, and Manawydan.
Three Coins in the Fountain
story about the romantic complications for three women in Rome living out the legend that anyone who throws a coin into the Trevi Fountain
will return to the Eternal City. Directed by Jean Negulesco, the three women in this 1954 film are Dorothy McGuire, Jean Peters, and Maggie
McNamara. The complications are supplied, respectively, by Clifton Webb, Rossano Brazzi, and Louis Jourdan.
three-color
printing or photographic process in which three primary colors, on three separate plates, are combined in different intensities to produce a
vast array of other colors.
Three Comrades
with a screenplay coauthored by F. Scott Fitzgerald (based on the novel by Erich Maria Remarque), this bleak 1938 film follows three
German soldiers Franchot Tone, Robert Taylor, and Robert Young as they return to their war-ravaged homeland following World War I.
Margaret Sullavan, as their female compatriot, received an Oscar nomination and was named best actress of the year by the New York Film
Critics.
The Three-Cornered Hat
an 1874 Spanish comic novel by Antonio de Alarcón, in which the miller Lucas suspects he is being cuckolded, and the various
misunderstandings that ensue.
Three Creek
a town in southwestern Idaho.
three Cyclopes
Brontes, Steropes, and Arges; in Greek mythology, creatures who each had only one eye in the middle of the forehead, known for their
strength and manual dexterity. They helped the Olympians defeat the Titans.
3-D
(a) abbreviation for three-dimensional, in general usage.
(b) specifically, the three-dimensional movie process or the film made using it.
Three Days’ Battle
Battle of Gettsburg, the decisive battle of the Civil War, June 1–3, 1863. Confederate forces in several attacks, including Pickett’s disastrous
charge, were unable to dislodge the entrenched Union positions, and Lee fell back, with severe losses to both sides. The Union troops lost
over 23,000 men, and the Confederates, 38,000. Five months later, on the battlefield, President Lincoln delivered his memorable Gettysburg
Address on November 19, 1863.
Three Days of the Condor
1975 CIA thriller directed by Sydney Pollack, with Robert Redford as an intelligence reader dropped into the middle of an internecine plot.
three-decker
a novel published in three separate volumes, usually in cloth binding; popular in Victorian England at the end of the nineteenth century.
three-dimensional
(adj.) defines a solid, which has length, and width, and height.
three divisions of the Buddhist scriptures
1. Sutras, the teachings of the Buddha;
2. Precepts; and
3. Commentaries, or discourses on the Buddha’s teachings.
Three Dog Night
popular singing group performing since 1969 (with a hiatus from 1975 to 1981), with twenty-one consecutive Top 40 hits, eighteen straight
Top 20 hits, eleven Top 10 hits, three number-1 hits, and twelve straight RIAA Certified Gold LPs.
three-dollar bill
an odd person, or something that seems out of place at the moment.
three-dollar gold piece
U.S. coin minted from 1854 to 1889.
three doshas
in Ayurveda, the ancient Vedic system of medicine from India, health is balanced by three subtle forces: vata, pitta, and kapha. According to
Sushruta, an ancient contributor to Indian medicine, the doshas represent three humors of the body: vata = air, pitta = fire, kapha = mucus.
Three Emperors’ League
(a) iniformal alliance among Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Russia, activated in 1873 by a conference attended by the emperors William I,
Francis Joseph, and Alexander II. The intent was to assert monarchical solidarity and to maintain peace between Austria-Hungary and
Russia. Renewed in 1881, the alliance remained in force until replaced by the Austro-German Alliance of 1879.
(b) also know as the Three Emperors’ Alliance, initiated by Bismarck in June 1881 to reassure Russia following the Dual Alliance between
Germany and Austria.
“The Three Enemies”
an 1862 poem by Christina Rosetti (1830–94), the title alluding to the Flesh, the World, and the Devil.
the three evil passions
in Buddhism, greed, anger, and stupidity.
3 F’s
fair rent, fixity of tenure, and freedom from sale; the three demands of the Irish Land League, founded in 1879 by Charles Stewart Parnell and
Michael Davitt.
The Three Faces of Eve
1957 film starring Joanne Woodward in an Oscar-winning performance as an emotionally disturbed woman with three distinct personalities.
Produced, written, and directed by Nunnally Johnson, the film was based on a true story.
Three Fates
in classical mythology, goddesses of destiny: Clotho, who spins the thread of life; Lachesis, who determines its length; and Atropos, who cuts
it off. Known to the Greeks as Moerae, to the Romans as Parcae. Daughters of Zeus and Themis.
Three Fingers
a mountain in western Washington State, about 30 miles northeast of Everett.
“The Three Fishers”
an 1849 poem by Charles Kingsley (1819–75) about three fishermen who die at sea, containing the classic line “For men must work, and
women must weep.”
threefold ministry
hierarchy of the ministry in both Catholic and Episcopal churches: bishop, presbyter, deacon.
threefold refuge
three affirmations made by Buddhist monks and layerpersons: “We take refuge in the Buddha. We take refuge in the Dharma. We take
refuge in the Sangha.”
Three Forks
a town in western Montana, about 30 miles northwest of Bozeman.
“three French hens”
the gift on the third day of Christmas in the carol “The Twelve Days of Christmas.”
Three Furies
in classical mythology, goddesses of vengeance: Alecto (the unresting), Megaera (the jealous), and Tisiphone (the avenger). Known to the
Greeks as the Erinyes and Eumenides, and to the Romans as Furiae.
Three Godfathers
John Ford’s 1948 Western, his first film in color, has John Wayne as an outlaw who finds redemption in caring for an infant left by a dying
woman.
Three Gorges
a scenic passage along the Yangtze River in China: Xiling Gorge, from Yichang to Badong (106 miles, encompassing the Three Gorges
Dam at Sandouping); Wu Gorge, from Badong to Wushan (72 miles); and Gutang Gorge, from Wushan to Wanxian (13 miles).
three Gorgons
daughters of Porcys and Ceto, hideous creatures with serpents for hair and huge boarlike tusks; they were named Sthenno, Euryale, and
Medusa. Medusa was the only one of the three who was mortal; the other two immortal.
Three Graces
(a) in Christian theology, faith, hope, and charity. Also called theological virtues or cardinal virtues (1 Corinthians 13:13).
(b) in Greek mythology, Aglaia, Thalia, and Euphrosyne: goddesses of grace, charm, and beauty. They are daughters of Zeus and Eurynome.
Also known as the Three Charities.
three Graeae
hideous misshapen sisters and guardians of the Gorgons, named Pemphredo, Enyo, and Dino. They lived in the land where the Sun never
shone, and they shared one eye and one tooth. They are the daughters of Phorcys and Ceto.
the three great men of Laotian and Northern Thailand myth
Pu Lang Seung, Khun K’an, and Khun K’et, who broke open three gourds and released the people who settled Southeast Asia.
three great river goddesses of Hinduism
in India: Ganga, Yamuna, and Saraswati.
three gunas
in the philosophy of yoga, three qualities of nature that account for the diversified objects of experience: tamas (for thought and stability), rajas
(for activity and restlessness), sattva (for orderliness and restraint).
three harpies
the predatory winged demons in Greek mythology: Aello, Celaeno, and Ocypete.
three-headed giant
Geryones, from whom Heracles (Hercules) stole the cattle as one of his twelve labors.
three heavens of Chinese Buddhism
the Kama Heaven, full of earthly pleasures; above that, the Rupa Heaven, of forms but no earthly pleasures; and, above all others, Arupa
Heaven, with neither forms nor human conceptions.
three Hesperides
in Greek mythology, the Nymphs of the Setting Sun: Aegle (Brightness), Erythia (“Scarlet”), and Hespararethusa (“Sunset Glow”). Daughters
of Atlas, they guarded the tree that produced golden apples.
three high gods: the Sumerian pantheon
An, heaven-god; Enlil, air-god; and a goddess, Ninhursag, the Lady of the Mountain.
Three Hills
a town in southeastern Alberta Province, Canada.
Three Holy Children
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; three Jews who were thrown into the fiery furnace by Nebuchadnezzar and saved by an angel (Daniel
3:19–26).
Three Hours
a Roman Catholic religious observance practiced on Good Friday between noon and 3:00 P.M., in memory of the three hours Jesus hung on
the cross.
Three Hummock Island
an island in the Bass Strait, northwest of Tasmania.
3-iron
golf club equivalent to the earlier mid-mashie.
Three Jewels of Taoism
compassion, moderation, and modesty or humility.
three judges of Hades
in Greek mythology, Minos, Rhadamanthys, and Aeacus.
3 June
birthday of Jefferson Davis, observed in the Southern states.
three kinds of Buddhist sages
Shravakas, pratyekabuddhas, and bodhisattvas.
three kinds of pain
1. physical and emotional pain caused by illness, hunger, thirst, etc.;
2. pain of losing something or someone that one is attached to;
3. pain caused by vicissitudes of the world.
three kingdoms
forms of matter: animal, mineral, vegetable.
Three Kingdoms
period in Chinese history from 220 to 265, following the collapse of the Han Dynasty. The name reflects the division of China into three
realms: Wei, Shu, and Wu.
Three Kingdoms Period
after eliminating the Chinese in 313, Korea remained for several centuries fractured into Koguryo in the north, Paekche in the southwest, and
Silla in the southeast.
Three Kings Island
a small island off the northern tip of the North Island, New Zealand.
Three Knobs
a mountain in the Northern Territory of Australia.
Three Lakes
a town in northern Wisconsin, about 60 miles north of Wausau.
three-legged mare
the gallows.
three-legged race
in which each pair of contestants run as one with their adjacent legs tied together.
three levels of existence in Tibetan Buddhism
world of the senses (kama-loka), world of fine materials (rupa-loka), and immaterial world (arupa-loka).
three-light window
a window in which two mullions separate the window space into three glass areas.
Three Links
direct telephone, postal, and airline links between mainland China (Fujian Province) and Taiwan (islands of Quemoy and Matsu) since 2001.
Previously, all such contacts were made through Hong Kong. Now, of course, e-mail is also available.
Three Little Maids
Yum-Yum, Peep-Bo, and Pitti-Sing, schoolgirl wards of Ko-Ko in the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta, The Mikado.
“Three Little Pigs”
(a) children’s tale of three little pigs who are threatened by a hungry wolf. The first two build their insubstantial houses of straw and branches,
and the wolf, who warns them, “I’ll huff and I’ll puff, and I’ll blow your house down,” succeeds in doing just that. They flee to the house of the
third, which is built of bricks and is too sturdy for the wolf to destroy.
(b) an 8:41-minute film short that won a 1933 Oscar for Disney in the category Short Subjects / Cartoon.
Three Little Words
1944 MGM film biography of the famed songwriters Bert Kalmar (Fred Astaire) and Harry Ruby (Red Skelton), directed by Richard Thorpe.
Three Lives
a 1909 collection of three stories by Gertrude Stein, each a character study of a different woman: “The Good Anna,” “Melanctha,” and “The
Gentle Lena.”
3M
familiar name for the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company, based in St. Paul, Minnesota, which produces over 60,000 products in
a variety of industries, including chemicals, automotives, electronics, medical, pharmaceuticals, etc.
three meanings of Tao
Tao is the way of ultimate reality; Tao is the way of the universe; Tao suggests the way a man should order his life.
Three Men and a Baby
directed by Leonard Nimoy (Dr. Spock on Star Trek), a 1987 comedy film about three swinging bachelor roommates, Tom Selleck, Steve
Guttenberg, and Ted Danson, who become responsible for caring for an infant. English-language version of a 1985 French film Three Men
and a Cradle.
Three Men and a Little Lady
1990 sequel to Three Men and a Baby; same principals, with the setting moved to England, and the “baby” now six years old.
“three men in a tub”
from the nursery rhyme:
Rub-a-dub-dub
Three men in a tub,
And who do you think they be?
The butcher, the baker,
The candlestick maker,
They all jumped out of a rotten potato!
Turn ’em out, knaves all three.
Three Men on a Horse
1936 comedy film directed by Mervyn LeRoy, with Frank McHugh as a writer of greeting cards who has an uncanny talent for picking the
winners of horse races. Based on a stage play by John Cecil Holm and George Abbott.
Three Mile Island
and island in the Susquehanna River, near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where, on March 28, 1979, nuclear reactor TMI-2 suffered a near
disastrous meltdown that focused national attention on the potential dangers of nuclear energy.
three-mile limit
three miles off the shore, sometimes defining the country’s territorial waters.
The Three Musketeers
rousing 1844 novel by Alexandre Dumas recounting the exploits of, actually, four friends: D’Artagnan (a real historical character) and three of
Louis III’s guardsmen, Athos, Porthos, and Aramis. Brought to the screen several times, first as a silent film in 1921, with Douglas Fairbanks
Jr., who was perfect as the swashbuckling D’Artagnan. Five sound films followed, the first in 1935; in 1939, as a comic musical, with Don
Ameche as a singing D’Artagnan and the Ritz Brothers as his comrades; in 1948, with Gene Kelly as D’Artagnan, fancying Lana Turner, with
Vincent Price as Cardinal Richelieu, and Frank Morgan as King Louis XIII; in 1974, with Michael York’s D’Artagnan befriended by Oliver
Reed, Richard Chamberlain, and Frank Finley as the three swordsmen, Raquel Welch as the female attraction, and Charlton Heston as the
evil Richelieu; and once again in 1993, heavy on the action, with Chris O’Donnell as D’Artagnan teaming up with Charlie Sheen, Kiefer
Sutherland, and Oliver Platt to battle the forces of the offbeat Tim Curry as Richelieu.
Three Oaks
a town outside South Bend, Indiana.
Three O’Clock Dinner
1945 novel by Josephine Pinckney, exploring a familu scandal in Charleston, South Carolina.
three of a kind
a poker hand with three cards of the same denomination in different suits; it beats a two pair but loses to a straight.
Three on a Match
(a) quiz show on daytime NBC-TV, hosted by Bill Cullen. Debuted August 2, 1971, and ran until June 28, 1974.
(b) 1932 gangster film, directed by Mervyn LeRoy, with Humphrey Bogart in his first gangster role. Joan Blondell, Ann Dvorak, and Bette
Davis all tempt fate by lighting their cigarettes from the same match.
threepence
an obsolete British three-penny coin.
three-penny nail
a carpenter’s common nail, 1 1/4 inches long (coded 3d).
The Threepenny Opera
(Die Dreigroschenoper, 1928) a work of social criticism by Bertolt Brecht, with music by Kurt Weill, based on John Gay’s The Beggar’s
Opera. This ballad opera focuses on the social conditions that produce crime and criminals. First U.S. stage production in April 1933, with
several revivals following. The longest running production debuted in September 1955 at the Theatre de Lys in New York City, closing in
December 1961, after six years and 2,611 performances. Cast featured Scott Merrill as MacHeath and Lotte Lenya in the Jenny role that
Brecht wrote especially for her. The first film adaptation was done in Germany in 1931, titled Die 3 Groschen-Oper, directed by G. W. Pabst
and starring Rudolf Forster and Lotte Lenya. Again in 1962, with Curt Jurgens and Hildegarde Neff, and another in 1990, titled Mack the
Knife, with Raul Julia playing MacHeath and Julia Migenes as Jenny.
three-piece suit
a jacket, trousers, and vest.
three-point landing
in which a plane touches down with its two main wheels at the same time as its nose wheel or its tail wheel or tail skid; frequently called a
perfect landing.
3-point type
typographer’s measure, known as “excelsior.”
Three-Power Naval Conference
a meeting of the U.S., Great Britain, and Japan, in the summer of 1927, in an attempt to set quotas for cruisers, destroyers, and submarines.
The conference failed.
Three-Power Pact
an agreement between Germany, Italy, and Japan, ostenibly “to promote the prosperity of their peoples,” concluded in Berlin on September
27, 1940. The pact pledged mutual support for a period of ten years.
three-pricker
RAF term for a three-point landing.
Three Principles of the People
political philosophy eschewed by Sun Yat-sen as part of a design to make China a free and powerful nation:
1. Nationalism
2. Democracy
3. Socialism
three primary colors
red, yellow, and blue.
Three Pure Gods (San Qing)
the highest dieties in the Taoist pantheon: Yu Qing (Jade Pure), Shang Qing (Upper Pure), and Tai Qing (Great Pure).
three Rs of President Roosevelt’s New Deal
relief, recovery, and reform.
three R’s of schoolwork
reading, ’riting, and ’rithmetic: the basics of schoolwork, and thus of learning. The phrase is attributed to Sir William Curtis, an illiterate British
alderman, later Lord Mayor of London.
“The Three Ravens”
a popular English ballad that starts:
There were three ravens sat on a tree,
They were as black as they may be.
three religious centers of the Old Kingdom of Egypt
Heliopolis, Memphis, and Hermopolis.
three religious vows
those taken by novitiates to membership in a Catholic religious order: poverty, chastity, and obedience.
three-ring circus
(a) in which performances are occurring simultaneously in three separate ring stages.
(b) slang for a confused event in which several activities are occurring simultaneously.
Three Rivers
(a) name of towns in: central California, about 50 miles southeast of Fresno; south-central New Mexico, about 30 miles north of Alamagordo;
south Texas, about 70 miles south of San Antonio; and (Trois Rivières) on Basse-Terre Island in Guadeloupe.
(b) name of cities in southwest Michigan, on the St. Joseph River, about 20 miles south of Kalamazoo, and in Quebec Province, on the St.
Lawrence River, about midway between Montreal and Quebec City.
Three Rivers Stadium
former Pittsburgh sports venue serving as the home field for the baseball Pirates and the football Steelers teams. Opened in 1970,
demolished in 2001. The stadium was named for its location, where the Monongahela joins the Allegheny to form the Ohio River.
Three Rock Cove
a town on Port-au-Prince Peninsula in western Newfoundland, Canada.
three roots of the Yggdrasil
in Norse mythology, the Yggdrasi, the giant ash tree that supported all creation, had three roots: one reached Niflheim, the northern region of
cold and darkness ruled by Hel; one grew to Asgard, the heavenly home of the Norse gods; and one extended to Jotunheim, the land of the
giants.
“3s & 8s”
sign-off, meaning “best wishes” (CB slang).
Three’s Company
titillating sitcom about two single girls sharing an apartment with a single guy, an innocent arrangement but open to all kinds of double
entendre. Debuted on ABC-TV in March, 1977, starring John Ritter, Suzanne Somers, and Joyce DeWitt, and ran, with several changes of
cast, for 172 episodes, until September 1984.
three secondary colors
green, orange, and purple.
three sheets to the wind
slang for being drunk.
Three Signs of Being
in Buddhism, impermanence, suffering, and absence of permanent soul.
three silver stars
insignia of a lieutenant general of the U.S. Army.
three Sirens
singers, in Greek mythology, whose lovely voices lured men away from their duties and their families; they were named Ligeia, Leucosia, and
Parthenope.
Three Sisters
(a) a group of mountains in west-central Oregon, about 65 miles east of Eugene.
(b) a town in the Union of South Africa, about 30 miles south of Victoria West.
(c) a small island in the Torres Strait north of Cape York, the northern tip of Queensland, Australia.
Three Sisters
Anton Chekhov’s 1901 four-act play examines the dreary existence of three sisters who hope for a better life. Regarded by some critics as
possibly the best play in modern drama. Adapted to film in 1966, the sisters were played by Geraldine Page, Kim Stanley, and Sandy
Dennis. And a second film, in 1970, directed by Laurence Olivier, starred Jeanne Watts, Joan Plowright, and Louise Purnell.
Three Soldiers
a 1921 novel by John Dos Passos debunking the glory and glamour of war and exposing its brutal reality.
threesome
any group of three, especially of golfers playing a round together.
three sons of Adam and Eve
Cain, Abel, and Seth.
three sons of Apollo
in Greek mythology, Laodocus, Dorus, and Polypoetes.
three sorts of pain
those from which yoga aims to free humans: our own infirmities and wrong conduct; our relation with other living things; and our relation with
external nature.
Three Springs
a town in the southwestern part of the state of Western Australia.
three-step drop
in football, a short, quick drop-back by the quarterback after the snap, intended to protect the quarterback when the offensive line is weak.
After the drop, the quarterback usually throws a short pass to a nearby receiver and hopes he doesn’t get swamped.
The Three Stooges
slapstick comedy trio of several movies. Originally Larry (Fine) and (the brothers) Moe and Curly (Howard). Curly was replaced by Shemp
Howard, another brother, in 1947, who was replaced by Joe Besser in 1955, who was replaced in turn by Curly Joe (DeRita) in 1958.
Three Stories and Ten Poems
the first published volume by Ernest Hemingway, released in Paris in 1923, dealing with issues of “the Lost Generation,” they who had lost
hope and faith and had turned to cynicism. The three stories are “Up in Michigan,” “Out of Season,” and “My Old Man.”
Three Strange Loves
Ingmar Bergman directed this 1949 Swedish film about a three-way love relationship.
Three Strangers
odd 1946 film about three strangers who share in a sweepstakes ticket that brings bad luck to each of them. Directed by Jean Negulesco.
The three are played by Geraldine Fitzgerald, Sydney Greenstreet, and Peter Lorre.
three strikes
number of pitches needed to retire a batter in the game of baseball.
three-striper
a navy commander, described by his rank insignia.
the three superior powers of Black Magic
Lucifer, Beelzebub, and Astaroth, according to the “Grimorium Verum” of 1517.
Three Taverns
1920 book of poems by Edwin Arlington Robinson about people who live out their passions.
3-to-an-em
an obsolete measure of spacing (equal to 1/3 em) used to justify a typographical line (i.e., spread out the words to fill the line to the margins);
known also as a “thick.”
three tragic poets of ancient Greece
Aeschylus (525–426 BC), Sophocles (496–406 BC), and Euripides (485–406 BC).
three-up
a gambling game played with three coins, all three falling heads or all three tails in order to win.
three vowels
obsolete British slang for an I.O.U.
three-way switch
one of a pair of switches that control lights or outlets from two points, typically for a stairway light that can be turned on or off from either the
top or bottom, or a hallway fixture that can be operated from a switch at either end.
Three Weeks
Elinor Glyn’s 1907 romantic novel, one of the first suppressed in Boston for its focus on illicit sex, which of course made it extremely popular.
three-wheeler
a tricycle.
“Three Wise Men of Gotham”
a Mother Goose nursery rhyme:
Three wise men of Gotham
They went to sea in a bowl.
If the bowl had been stronger
My poem would be longer.
Three Wise Men of the East
the Magi who came to see baby Jesus in Bethlehem: Gaspar, Melchior, and Balthazar. According to Matthew 2, they had followed the Star of
Bethlehem to find and adore the baby Jesus.
three wise monkeys
see-no-evil, hear-no-evil, speak-no-evil.
three wishes
reward customarily granted by the genie to the lucky finder of the magic lamp.
three witches
characters that open the play, Macbeth.
3-wood
golf club sometimes called a spoon.
the three worlds
earth, heaven, and hell.
in Hindu mythology, the three worlds refer to the Earth, the atmosphere or middle space, and the sky.
“Three Years She Grew”
1800 poem by William Wordsworth (1770–1850), about the loss of a child and the future that will never be.
tricolor
a three-color flag (i.e., those of France, Italy, and Luxembourg).
Trimurti
the Hindu trinity: Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva, corresponding respectively to the creative, conservative, and destructive aspects of human
activity. Usually portrayed as three faces on the one head of the god, Iswara.
triple
in baseball, a three-base hit.
Triple Alliance
(a) the alliance of Great Britain, Sweden, and the Netherlands against France (1668).
(b) the alliance of France, Great Britain, and the Netherlands against Spain (1717).
(c) the alliance of Great Britain, Holland, and Prussia against Catherine II of Russia, in defense of Turkey (1789).
(d) the alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy for mutual security (1882–1915). Intended to protect Germany against Russian and
French aggression; to ensure Italy’s neutrality in the event of a war between Austria-Hungary and Russia; and to protect Italy in the event of a
war with France.
triple bogey
golf score of three strokes over par on a hole.
triple bond
a chemical connection by three convalent bonds between two atoms of a molecule.
triple cream
a French soft cheese mostly of cow’s milk, with cream added to comprise at least 72 percent fat.
Triple Crown
horse racing’s most coveted honor: winning all three of racing’s most-famous Thoroughbred events in the same year (the Kentucky Derby,
Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes). The long races, for three-year-olds, are held within a five-week period, at three different tracks, in
three different states. Only eleven horses have captured this elusive prize; the first was Sir Barton in 1919, and the most recent, Affirmed, in
1978. (See full list under 11.)
triple-decker
a sandwich made of three slices of bread with two layers of filling, which are usually different.
Triple Entente
an informal alignment among Great Britain, France, and Russia drawing on the Franco-Russian military alliance of 1894, an Anglo-French
accord of 1904, and an Anglo-Russian entente of 1907 seen as a counterpoise to the Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy.
triple play
in baseball, a play in which three putouts are made.
triple point
the temperature and pressure at which the solid, liquid, and gaseous states of a particular substance are each in equilibrium with one
another.
triple sec
a liqueur flavored with sour orange.
triplet
a chemical bond between two atoms in which three electrons are shared.
triple threat
(a) a person who is expert in three different skills or in three related activities.
(b) a football player who is skilled at running, passing, and kicking.
(c) a baseball player who is skilled at playing the infield, playing the outfield, and hitting.
The Triumvirate in English history
the Duke of Marlborough controlling foreign affairs, Lord Godolphin controlling Council and Parliament, and the Duchess of Marlborough
controlling the court and the Queen.
The Triumvirate of Italian poets
Dante, Boccaccio, and Petrarch.
trivium
the three studies of the lower division of the seven liberal arts in the Middle Ages: grammar (i.e., literature), rhetoric, and logic.
The Unholy Three
directed by Tod Browning, a 1925 silent film with Lon Chaney as a sideshow ventriloquist who cooks up a moneymaking scheme with friends
Victor McLaglen, a strongman; Mae Busch, a pickpocket; and Harry Earles, a midget.
Vaughan Williams’s Symphony No. 3
a “Pastoral” symphony.
War of the Three Henrys
the final phase (1584–89) of a series of religio-political struggles to define the leadership and character of sixteenth-century France. The
dramatis personae were Henry III (King of France), Henry of Navarre (Protestant heir presumptive to the throne), and Henry of Guise (leader
of the Catholic League).
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