TRIO

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does trio mean? 

• TRIO (noun)
  The noun TRIO has 5 senses:

1. the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one and one

2. a musical composition for three performers

3. three performers or singers who perform together

4. a set of three similar things considered as a unit

5. three people considered as a unit

  Familiarity information: TRIO used as a noun is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• TRIO (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The cardinal number that is the sum of one and one and one

Classified under:

Nouns denoting quantities and units of measure

Synonyms:

3; deuce-ace; III; leash; tercet; ternary; ternion; terzetto; three; threesome; tierce; trey; triad; trine; trinity; trio; triplet; troika

Hypernyms ("trio" is a kind of...):

digit; figure (one of the elements that collectively form a system of numeration)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A musical composition for three performers

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("trio" is a kind of...):

composition; musical composition; opus; piece; piece of music (a musical work that has been created)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Three performers or singers who perform together

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Hypernyms ("trio" is a kind of...):

musical group; musical organisation; musical organization (an organization of musicians who perform together)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A set of three similar things considered as a unit

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Synonyms:

triad; trio; triple; triplet

Hypernyms ("trio" is a kind of...):

set (a group of things of the same kind that belong together and are so used)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "trio"):

trilogy (a set of three literary or dramatic works related in subject or theme)

trigon; triplicity ((astrology) one of four groups of the zodiac where each group consists of three signs separated from each other by 120 degrees)

Instance hyponyms:

Trimurti (the triad of divinities of later Hinduism)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Three people considered as a unit

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Synonyms:

threesome; triad; trinity; trio

Hypernyms ("trio" is a kind of...):

assemblage; gathering (a group of persons together in one place)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "trio"):

triumvirate (a group of three men responsible for public administration or civil authority)

 Context examples 

Scientists believe there are many more left to be discovered, like the trio found at Atacama.

(Three New Species of Fish Found at Bottom of Pacific Ocean, VOA)

The ME/PI/TZ trio was more effective against the strain than any of the drugs alone or in pairs.

(Antibiotic Combinations May Combat MRSA Infections, NIH)

They were now a miserable trio, confined within doors by a series of rain and snow, with nothing to do and no variety to hope for.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

All three events, including the largest, most powerful eruption of the trio on Aug. 29, 2013, were likely characterized by curtains of fire as lava blasted out of fissures perhaps several miles long.

(A Hellacious Two Weeks on Jupiter's Moon Io, NASA)

Titan's tallest peak is 10,948 feet (3,337 meters) high and is found within a trio of mountainous ridges called the Mithrim Montes.

(Cassini Spies Titan's Tallest Peaks, NASA)

If in our trio there was a superior and a leader, it was Diana.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Three men ran together, hand in hand; and I made out, even through the mist, that the middle man of this trio was the blind beggar.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

This cosmic trio makes up just a portion of a vast complex of gas and dust within which new stars are springing to life and illuminating their surroundings.

(VST Captures Three-In-One, ESO)

The closest system to Earth, a trio of stars, is Alpha Centauri, that consists of Alpha Centauri, a close companion to it and the more distant companion Proxima Centauri, at about 4 light-years away.

(A cold, close neighbor of the Sun, NASA)

Aunt Dodo was chief playmate and confidante of both children, and the trio turned the little house topsy-turvy.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)