double

adjective

1. not comparable Made up of two matching or complementary elements. The closet has double doors.

   Similar: binary

2. not comparable Of twice the quantity. Give me a double serving of mashed potatoes.

   Similar: duplicate

3. not comparable Of a family relationship, related on both the maternal and paternal sides of a family. He's my double cousin as my mother's sister married my father's brother.
4. not comparable Designed for two (people, cars, etc.). a double room
5. not comparable Folded in two; composed of two layers.
6. not comparable Stooping; bent over.
7. not comparable Having two aspects; ambiguous. a double meaning

   Similar: twofold

8. not comparable False, deceitful, or hypocritical. a double life
9. not comparable Of flowers, having more than the normal number of petals.
10. not comparable Of an instrument, sounding an octave lower. a double bass
11. not comparable Of time, twice as fast.

Similar: twin, twofold · Opposite: half

adverb

1. not comparable Twice over; twofold; doubly. February 7 1736, Jonathan Swift, letter to Alexander Pope I was double their age.

   Similar: doubly

2. not comparable Two together; two at a time. When I met the twins, I thought I was seeing double.
3. not comparable Into two halves or sections. The old man was bent double under his heavy burden.

noun doubles

1. Twice the number, amount, size, etc. I did double his sales this month.
2. A person who resembles and stands in for another person, often for safety purposes Saddam Hussein was rumored to have many doubles.
3. A drink with two portions of alcohol. On second thought, make that a double.
4. Two shifts of work back to back. I work a double this weekend.
5. A ghostly apparition of a living person; a doppelgänger. According to the description our captain had given me of Peter Sandaker once when he had dropped behind on the march, he was particularly good at telling tales and stories about goblin-birds, doubles, and fairies, and had a special fancy for entering into the most minute details, whenever he commenc
6. A sharp turn, especially a return on one's own tracks.
7. A redundant item for which an identical item already exists. I have more than 200 stamps in my collection but they're not all unique: some are doubles.
8. A two-base hit. The catcher hit a double to lead off the ninth.
9. A call that increases certain scoring points if the last preceding bid becomes the contract.
10. A strike in which the object ball is struck so as to make it rebound against the cushion to an opposite pocket. Brecel fired in doubles, a succession of stunning long pots and seemingly cleared balls at will as he rattled through the first four frames in under an hour.
11. A bet on two horses in different races in which any winnings from the first race are placed on the horse in the later race. Not only did I collect on the double; I had the win and the place money as well.
12. The narrow outermost ring on a dartboard.
13. A hit on this ring.
14. A tile that has the same value (i.e., the same number of pips) on both sides.
15. A double-precision floating-point number. The sine function returns a double.
16. Two competitions, usually one league and one cup, won by the same team in a single season.
17. A boat for two scullers.
18. The feat of scoring twice in one game. DJ Campbell grabbed a second-half double as Blackpool made Sunderland pay for a host of missed chances to secure a fifth away league win of the season.
19. The feat of winning two events in a single meet or competition. In 1996, Michael Johnson achieved a double by winning both the 200 and 400 meter dashes.
20. The achievement of 1000 runs and 100 wickets taken in a single season.
21. historical A former French coin worth one-sixth of a sou.
22. Guernsey, historical A copper coin worth one-eighth of a penny. As for doubles, they are not worth anything now; and I have still got an egg-cupful my mother used to keep handy to give the baker change from a farthing.
23. Playing the same part on two instruments, alternately.
24. A double feast.
25. Synonym of double-quick (“fast marching pace”).

    Similar: double-quick

26. A secondary instrument with which a musician is skilled. The saxophone is a valuable and rewarding double, and opens up many gigs that aren’t available to players of just the “orchestral” woodwinds.
27. dated, slang A double-cross or betrayal. His fellows had chaffed him much upon the way that astute adventurer had bamboozled him, or, in their vernacular, "put the double on him," and vowed that all his energies should be devoted to a return match.
28. A double agent. 'This is 007 speaking. This is an open line. It's an emergency. Can you hear me? Pass this on at once. 3030 was a double, working for Redland.
29. slang Someone who identifies with the same kintype. seeing a double of their kintype can feel threatening or disorienting, or just make them kind of uncomfortable if their kintype is very personal to them.
30. slang Someone who yumeships with the same character as another person. Haven’t been in the yumeshipping space for all that long so I never really knew if I was sharing or not until I talked to a double.

verb doubles · doubling · doubled

1. transitive To multiply by two. The company doubled their earnings per share over last quarter.

   Similar: redouble

2. intransitive To increase by 100%, to become twice as large in size. Our earnings have doubled in the last year.
3. To be the double of; to exceed by twofold; to contain or be worth twice as much as. Thus re-inforc’d, againſt the adverſe Fleet / Still doubling ours, brave Rupert leads the way.
4. transitive To fold over so as to make two folds. To make a pleat, double the material at the waist.
5. sometimes, transitive, followed by up To clench (a fist).
6. To get a two-base hit. The batter doubled into the corner.
7. often, transitive, followed by together or up To join or couple.
8. transitive To repeat exactly; copy.

   Similar: facsimilize

9. intransitive To serve a second role or have a second purpose. A spork is a kind of fork that doubles as a spoon.
10. ambitransitive, sometimes, with "for" To act as substitute for (another theatrical performer in a certain role, etc). Laforêt, who (as the French express it), doubles Lainez, that is, performs the same characters in his absence.
11. To play (both one part and another, in the same play, etc). When, therefore, Briggs, the sedate, middle-aged individual, who in the Markham household doubles the roles of butler and valet, makes his appearance, his master affects to be in a great hurry, looks at his watch, and says : […]
12. intransitive To turn sharply, following a winding course.
13. To sail around (a headland or other point). Sailing along the coast, he doubled the promontory of Carthage.
14. To duplicate (a part) either in unison or at the octave above or below it.
15. intransitive, usually, followed by "on" To be capable of performing (upon an additional instrument).
16. To make a call that will double certain scoring points if the preceding bid becomes the contract.
17. intransitive To double down.
18. To cause (a ball) to rebound from a cushion before entering the pocket.
19. intransitive To go or march at twice the normal speed. "You double down to the harbour, my lad," said the Captain to Strickland, "and sign on. You've got your papers." Strickland set off at once, and that was the last Captain Nichols saw of him.
20. transitive To multiply the strength or effect of by two. Sorry, this store does not double coupons.
21. To unite, as ranks or files, so as to form one from each two.
22. informal, of a station To transmit simultaneously on the same channel as another station, either unintentionally or deliberately, causing interference. Could you please repeat your last transmission? Another station was doubling with you.
23. intransitive To operate as a double agent. Was this simply the cover name of an Allied spy-code named the Brass Monkey? […] The possibility that the Brass Monkey himself was "doubling" (with headquarters' approval, of course) is too logical […]

Similar: double · Opposite: halve, bisect

proper noun Doubles

1. A surname.

noun the Double · Doubles

1. US Collectively, both the Indianapolis 500, a day race, and the Coca-Cola 600, an evening race, both of which are run on Memorial Day weekend Sunday. Used concerning racers who (wish[/ed/ing] to) participat[e/ed/ing] in both events, typically using a private jet to travel between Indianapolis, Indiana, after the 500 and Charlotte, North Carolina, to get to the 600.