trio
/ˈtriːəʊ
/noun (plural trios)
1A set or group of three people or things: the hotel was run by a trio of brothers...
- We meet a trio of Irish-American brothers who return to the homeland to teach Catholic and Protestant kids how to surf together.
- There are many trios of numbers that you can use as x, y, and z here.
- The trio, including a pair dressed as Batman and Robin, were brought down from the roof at 7.10 am after protesting for 40 minutes.
Synonyms
threesome, three, triumvirate, triad, troika, triplex, trinity, trilogy, triptych, triplets
rare triunity, triune, triplicity
1.1A group of three musicians: a jazz trio...
- The beautiful sense of orchestral chamber music the trio brought to the Largo was memorable.
- He believes that you increase your understanding by playing in small ensembles - three, four or five people in trios, quartets and quintets.
- The musicians from the Laureate trio staged a virtuoso performance at a concert marking the launching of their new album on Monday.
1.2A composition written for three musicians: Chopin’s G minor Trio...
- Wind trios for such combinations as flute, clarinet, and bassoon have been written by a number of composers, as have brass trios for trumpet, horn, and trombone or other combinations.
- We learn, for instance, how his wife played a crucial role in the composition of the sublime trio at the end of Der Rosenkavalier.
- The three sing a wondrous trio where Claire supports the voices with some strikingly dark instrumental timbres.
1.3The central, typically contrastive, section of a minuet, scherzo, or march.This is particularly true of the Classical minuet and trio, where the ternary structure arises from the repeat of the minuet after the trio, though each section may be in either binary or ternary form....
- A contrasting trio section in staccato thirds perhaps implies a child's tip-toe dance.
- In the second movement, for example, it appears pretty much as itself, while in the trio of the scherzo third, Antheil transforms it into a fugal subject.
1.4(In piquet) a set of three aces, kings, queens, jacks, or tens held in one hand.Similarly, the player with the better trio or quatorze can also score any other trios and quatorzes they hold, but the other player scores nothing for any trios or quatorzes....
- For example, a hand of 10, Q, K and 4 is a trio, because if the Four of Clubs were a black Jack it would have been a winning hand.
- Once a player has put down the initial contract for the round, he is allowed in subsequent turns to put down cards from his hand to extend any trios or escaleras which are already on the table - his own or other people's.
Origin
Early 18th century: from Italian, from Latin tres 'three', on the pattern of duo.