Advertisement

Advertisement

triple threat

noun

  1. an expert in three different fields or in three different skills in the same field.
  2. Football. a back who is proficient at running, passing, and punting:

    The triple threat is a rare find for coaches.



Discover More

Word History and Origins

Origin of triple threat1

First recorded in 1920–25
Discover More

Idioms and Phrases

A person who is adept in three areas, as in She's a triple threat on the editorial staff—she can edit, write, and design pages . This term comes from football, where it signifies a player who is good at running, passing, and kicking. [c. 1920] Also see hat trick .
Discover More

Example Sentences

She went on to joke that she has come "a long way" and now considers herself "a triple threat, which in England means I sing, I drink, and I smoke".

From BBC

Described by blues-rock titan and mentor Buddy Guy as “the next explosion of the blues,” 25-year-old Christone “Kingfish” Ingram has wowed fans and critics alike with his incendiary guitar playing, velvety smooth vocals and expressive songwriting — a veritable triple threat.

Jackson calls Levesque a “triple threat” of music, screen and stage.

Sutton Foster, a classic Broadway triple threat beloved for her comedic skills and her big belt, will star this summer and fall in a Broadway revival of “Once Upon a Mattress.”

Forget triple threat, she does it all.

From Salon

Advertisement

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement


tripletailtriple time