Definition of "double"

double

/ˈdʌbl̩/

adjective
not comparable
1. Made up of two matching or complementary elements.
  Quotations
  “ […] it is not fair of you to bring against mankind double weapons ! Such is not the usage of civilized warfare. Dangerous enough you are as woman alone, without bringing to your aid those gifts of mind suited to problems which men have been accustomed to arrogate to themselves.”
  1910, Emerson Hough, “A Lady in Company”, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company
  The [Washington] Post's proprietor through those turbulent [Watergate] days, Katharine Graham, held a double place in Washington’s hierarchy: at once regal Georgetown hostess and scrappy newshound, ready to hold the establishment to account.
  2013 August 10, Lexington, “Keeping the mighty honest”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8848
2. Of twice the quantity.
3. Of a family relationship, related on both the maternal and paternal sides of a family.
4. Designed for two users.
5. Folded in two; composed of two layers.
6. Stooping; bent over.
7. Having two aspects; ambiguous.
8. False, deceitful, or hypocritical.
  Quotations
  A fals double tunge is more fiers and fellThen Cerberus the cur couching in the kenel of hel;Wherof hereafter, I thinke for to write,Of fals double tunges in the diſpite.
  c. 1515–1516, published 1568, John Skelton, Againſt venemous tongues enpoyſoned with ſclaunder and falſe detractions &c.
9. Of flowers, having more than the normal number of petals.
10. (music) Of an instrument, sounding an octave lower.
11. (music) Of time, twice as fast.
adverb
not comparable
1. Twice over; twofold; doubly.
  Quotations
  I was double their age.
  February 7 1736, Jonathan Swift, letter to Alexander Pope
2. Two together; two at a time.
3. Into two halves or sections.
noun
plural doubles
1. Twice the number, amount, size, etc.
2. A person who resembles and stands in for another person, often for safety purposes
3. A drink with two portions of alcohol.
4. A ghostly apparition of a living person; a doppelgänger.
  Quotations
  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 commenced telling about one or the other of the eighteen bears he had killed in his time.
  1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 71
5. A sharp turn, especially a return on one's own tracks.
6. A redundant item for which an identical item already exists.
7. (baseball) A two-base hit.
8. (bridge) A call that increases certain scoring points if the last preceding bid becomes the contract.
9. (billiards, snooker) A strike in which the object ball is struck so as to make it rebound against the cushion to an opposite pocket.
  Quotations
  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.
  2023 May 1, Steve Sutcliffe, “World Snooker Championship 2023 final: Luca Brecel beats Mark Selby for first world title”, in BBC Sport
10. 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.
  Quotations
  Not only did I collect on the double; I had the win and the place money as well.
  2005, Kenneth Brown, ...and I Survived: A Barnardo Boy's Memoir, page 55
11. (darts) The narrow outermost ring on a dartboard.
12. (darts) A hit on this ring.
13. (dominoes) A tile that has the same value (i.e., the same number of pips) on both sides.
14. (programming) A double-precision floating-point number.
15. (soccer) Two competitions, usually one league and one cup, won by the same team in a single season.
16. (rowing) A boat for two scullers.
17. (sports) The feat of scoring twice in one game.
  Quotations
  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.
  2010 December 28, Owen Phillips, “Sunderland 0 - 2 Blackpool”, in BBC‎
18. (sports, chiefly swimming and track) The feat of winning two events in a single meet or competition.
19. (historical) A former French coin worth one-sixth of a sou.
20. (historical, Guernsey) A copper coin worth one-eighth of a penny.
  Quotations
  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.
  1974, GB Edwards, The Book of Ebenezer Le Page, New York, published 2007, page 196
21. (music) Playing the same part on two instruments, alternately.
22. (Christianity) A double feast.
23. Synonym of double-quick (“fast marching pace”)
verb
third-person singular simple present doubles, present participle doubling, simple past and past participle doubled
1. (transitive) To multiply by two.
2. (intransitive) To increase by 100%, to become twice as large in size.
3. To be the double of; to exceed by twofold; to contain or be worth twice as much as.
  Quotations
  Thus re-inforc’d, againſt the adverſe Fleet / Still doubling ours, brave Rupert leads the way.
  1668, John Dryden, Annus Mirabilis: The Year of Wonders, M. DC. LXVI. […], London: […] Henry Herringman, […], stanza 119, page 31
4. (transitive) To fold over so as to make two folds.
5. (transitive, sometimes followed by up) To clench (a fist).
6. (baseball) To get a two-base hit.
7. (transitive, often followed by together or up) To join or couple.
8. (transitive) To repeat exactly; copy.
9. (transitive with as) To serve a second role or have a second purpose.
10. (transitive, intransitive, sometimes with "for") To act as substitute for (another theatrical performer in a certain role, etc).
  Quotations
  Laforêt, who (as the French express it), doubles Lainez, that is, performs the same characters in his absence.
  1801, Francis William Blagdon, Paris as it was and as it is, published 1803, II, xli, 60
  […] and when she attempted to double the part of her mother, she equally failed in playing the great or agreeable lady.
  1814, Elizabeth Hervey, The Mourtray Family: Third Edition, page 31
11. (theater) To play (both one part and another, in the same play, etc).
  Quotations
  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 : […]
  1878, lady Isabella Emma E. Schuster, Hands Not Hearts, page 141
  Miss Theby doubles in the part of Rose and the native girl in the Philippines. This is a problem plot in which a young man leaves the girl of his choice because she has had an affair in her earlier years. He goes to the Philippines, […]
  1916, The Moving Picture World, page 335
  In On the Beat he doubles the parts of a constable and a gang-leader. Norman was all over the place.
  1997, Roger Lewis, The Life and Death of Peter Sellers, Hal Leonard Corporation
  In his case the matter is simplified by the fact that the head of his Deception Staff doubles the roles of author and producer. The Commander therefore tells him what sort of deception he needs, examines the plans produced for him […]
  2013, Hy Rothstein, Barton Whaley, The Art and Science of Military Deception, Artech House, page 164
12. (intransitive) To turn sharply, following a winding course.
13. (nautical) To sail around (a headland or other point).
  Quotations
  Sailing along the coast, he doubled the promontory of Carthage.
  1603, Richard Knolles, The Generall Historie of the Turkes, […], London: […] Adam Islip
  […] though the Iſland itſelf was not very large […] I found a great Ledge of Rocks lie out about two Leagues into the Sea […] ſo that I was oblig’d to go a great Way out to Sea to double the Point.
  1719 May 6 (Gregorian calendar), [Daniel Defoe], The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, […], 3rd edition, London: […] W[illiam] Taylor […], published 1719, page 162
14. (music) To duplicate (a part) either in unison or at the octave above or below it.
15. (music, intransitive, usually followed by "on") To be capable of performing (upon an additional instrument).
16. (bridge) To make a call that will double certain scoring points if the preceding bid becomes the contract.
17. (card games, intransitive) To double down.
18. (billiards, snooker, pool) To cause (a ball) to rebound from a cushion before entering the pocket.
19. (intransitive) To go or march at twice the normal speed.
  Quotations
  "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.
  1919, W[illiam] Somerset Maugham, chapter XLVII, in The Moon and Sixpence, [New York, N.Y.]: Grosset & Dunlap Publishers […], page 250
20. (transitive) To multiply the strength or effect of by two.
21. (military) To unite, as ranks or files, so as to form one from each two.
22. (radio, informal, of a station) To transmit simultaneously on the same channel as another station, either unintentionally or deliberately, causing interference.
23. (espionage, intransitive) To operate as a double agent.
  Quotations
  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 […]
  1973, National Lampoon, page 12