Tri"er*arch (?), n. [L. trierarchus, Gr. &?;; &?; a trireme + &?; a
leader, a chief.] (Gr. Antiq.) (a) The commander of a trireme. (b) At
Athens, one who (singly, or jointly with other citizens) had to fit out
a trireme for the public service.
Tri"er*arch`y (?), n.; pl. Trierarchises (#). [ Gr. &?;.] The office
duty of a trierarch.
Tri`e*ter"ic*al (?), a. [L. trietericus, Gr. &?;, fr. &?; (sc. &?;) a
triennial festival; &?; (see Tri-.) + &?; a year.] Kept or occurring
once in three years; triennial. [R.] J. Gregory.
Tri`e*ter"ics (?), n. pl. [L. trieterica, pl., fr. Gr. &?; of a
triennial festival.] (Class. Antiq.) Festival games celebrated once in
three years. [R.] May.
Tri*eth`yl*am"ine (?), n. [Pref. tri- + ethylamine.] (Chem.) A tertiary
amine analogous to trimethylamine.
Tri*fa"cial (?), a. [Pref. tri- + facial.] (Anat.) See Trigeminal.
Tri"fal`low (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Trifallowed (?); p. pr. & vb. n.
Trifallowing.] [Pref. tri- + fallow. Cf. Thryfallow.] To plow the third
time before sowing, as land. Mortimer.
Tri*fa"ri*ous (?), a. [L. trifarius of three sorts or ways, threefold;
cf. Gr. &?;. Cf. Bifarious.] (Bot.) Facing three ways; arranged in
three vertical ranks, as the leaves of veratrum.
Tri*fas"ci*a`ted (?), a. [Pref. tri- + fasciated.] Having, or
surrounded by, three fasciæ, or bands.
Tri"fid, a. [L. trifidus; tri- (see Tri-) + the root of findere to
split: cf. F. trifide.] Cleft to the middle, or slightly beyond the
middle, into three parts; three-cleft.
Tri*fis"tu*la*ry (?), a. [Pref. tri- + fistula, fistular.] Having three
pipes. Sir T. Browne.
Tri"fle (?), n. [OE. trifle, trufle, OF. trufle mockery, raillery,
trifle, probably the same word as F. truffe truffle, the word being
applied to any small or worthless object. See Truffle.] 1. A thing of
very little value or importance; a paltry, or trivial, affair.
With such poor trifles playing.
Drayton.
Trifles light as air Are to the jealous confirmation strong As proofs
of holy writ.
Shak.
Small sands the mountain, moments make year, And frifles life.
Young.
2. A dish composed of sweetmeats, fruits, cake, wine, etc., with
syllabub poured over it.
Tri"fle, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Trifled (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Trifling
(?).] [OE. trifelen, truflen. See Trifle, n.] To act or talk without
seriousness, gravity, weight, or dignity; to act or talk with levity;
to indulge in light or trivial amusements.
They trifle, and they beat the air about nothing which toucheth us.
Hooker.
To trifle with, to play the fool with; to treat without respect or
seriousness; to mock; as, to trifle with one's feelings, or with sacred
things.
Tri"fle, v. t. 1. To make of no importance; to treat as a trifle.
[Obs.] Shak.
2. To spend in vanity; to fritter away; to waste; as, to trifle away
money. "We trifle time." Shak.
Tri"fler (?), n. One who trifles. Waterland.
Tri"fling (?), a. Being of small value or importance; trivial; paltry;
as, a trifling debt; a trifling affair. — Tri"fling*ly, adv. —
Tri"fling*ness, n.
{ Tri*flo"ral (?), Tri*flo"rous (?), } a. [Pref. tri- + L. flos,
floris, flower.] (Bot.) Three-flowered; having or bearing three
flowers; as, a triflorous peduncle.
Tri*fluc`tu*a"tion (?), n. [Pref. tri- + fluctuation.] A concurrence of
three waves. [Obs.] "A trifluctuation of evils." Sir T. Browne.
{ Tri*fo"li*ate (?), Tri*fo"li*a`ted (?), } a. [Tri- + foliate. Cf.
Trefoil.] (Bot.) Having three leaves or leaflets, as clover. See
Illust. of Shamrock.
Tri*fo"li*o*late (?), a. [Pref. tri- + foliolate.] (Bot.) Having three
leaflets.
||Tri*fo"li*um (?), n. [L., clover.] (Bot.) A genus of leguminous herbs
||with densely spiked flowers and usually trifoliate leaves; trefoil.
||There are many species, all of which are called clover. See Clover.
||
Tri"fo*ly (?), n. [L. trifolium. See Trifoliate, Trefoil.] (Bot.) Sweet
trefoil. [Obs.]
She was crowned with a chaplet of trifoly.
B. Jonson.
||Tri*fo"ri*um (?), n. [LL., fr. L. tri- (see Tri-) + foris, pl. fores,
||a door.] (Arch.) The gallery or open space between the vaulting and
||the roof of the aisles of a church, often forming a rich arcade in
||the interior of the church, above the nave arches and below the
||clearstory windows.
||
Tri"form (?), a. [L. triformis; tri- (see Tri-) + forma form.] Having a
triple form or character. "This triform antagonism." I. Taylor.
Goddess Triform, I own thy triple spell.
Lowell.
Tri*form"i*ty (?), n. [L. triformitas.] The state of being triform, or
of having a threefold shape.
{ Tri*fur"cate (?), Tri*fur"ca*ted (?), } a. [L. trifurcus; tri- (see
Tri-) + furca fork.] Having three branches or forks; trichotomous.
Trig (?), v. t. [Cf. Dan. trykke to press, Sw. trycka.] To fill; to
stuff; to cram. [Obs.] Dr. H. More.
Trig, a. [Formerly written trick, akin to trick to dress.] Full; also,
trim; neat. [Prov. Eng. & Scot.]
To sit on a horse square and trig.
Brit. Quart. Rev.
Trig, v. t. [See Trigger.] To stop, as a wheel, by placing something
under it; to scotch; to skid.
Trig, n. [See Trigger.] A stone, block of wood, or anything else,
placed under a wheel or barrel to prevent motion; a scotch; a skid.
[Eng.] Wright.
Trig"a*mist (?), n. [See Trigamy.] One who has been married three
times; also, one who has three husbands or three wives at the same
time.
Trig"a*mous (?), a. [L. trigamus a thrice-married man, Gr. &?; thrice
married; &?; (see Tri-) + &?; marriage: cf. F. trigame.] (Bot.) Having
three sorts of flowers in the same head, — male, female, and
hermaphrodite, or perfect, flowers.
Trig"a*my (?), n. [L. trigamia,Gr. &?;: cf. F. trigamie. See
Trigamous.] The act of marrying, or the state of being married, three
times; also, the offense of having three husbands or three wives at the
same time.
Tri*gas"tric (?), a. [Pref. tri- + Gr. &?; belly.] (Anat.) Having three
bellies; — said of a muscle. Dunglison.
Tri*gem"i*nal (?), a. [See Trigeminous.] (Anat.) Of, pertaining to, or
designating, the fifth pair of cranial nerves, which divide on each
side of the head into three main branches distributed to the orbits,
jaws, and parts of the mouth; trifacial.
Tri*gem"i*nous (?), a. [L. trigeminus born three together; tri- (see
Tri-) + geminus twin. Cf. Tergeminous.] Born three together; being one
of three born at the same birth; also, threefold. E. Phillip&?;.
Tri*gen"ic (?), a. [Pref. tri- + gen- + -ic. So named in reference to
its composition, it being supposed to contain the radicals of three
molecules of cyanic acid.] (Chem.) Of, pertaining to, or designating,
an acid, C4H7N3O2, obtained, by the action of the vapor of cyanic acid
on cold aldehyde, as a white crystalline substance having a slightly
acid taste and faint smell; — called also ethidene- or
ethylidene-biuret.
Tri*ges"i*mo-se*cun"do (?), a. [L. in trigesimo-secundo in the
thirty-second.] Having thirty-two leaves to a sheet; as, a
trigesimo-secundo form, book, leaf, size, etc.
Tri*ges"i*mo-se*cun"do, n. A book composed of sheets so folded that
each one makes thirty-two leaves; hence, indicating, more or less
definitely, a size of book; — usually written 32mo, or 32°, and called
thirty-twomo.
Trig"ger (?), n. [For older tricker, from D. trekker, fr. trekken to
draw, pull. See Trick, n.] 1. A catch to hold the wheel of a carriage
on a declivity.
2. (Mech.) A piece, as a lever, which is connected with a catch or
detent as a means of releasing it; especially (Firearms), the part of a
lock which is moved by the finger to release the cock and discharge the
piece.
Trigger fish (Zoöl.), a large plectognath fish (Balistes Carolinensis
or B. capriscus) common on the southern coast of the United States, and
valued as a food fish in some localities. Its rough skin is used for
scouring and polishing in the place of sandpaper. Called also leather
jacket, and turbot.
Tri*gin`tal (?), n. [LL. trigintate, fr. L. triginta thirty. See
Trental.] (R. C. Ch.) A trental.
Tri*glyc"er*ide (?), n. [Pref. tri- + glyceride.] (Chem.) A glyceride
formed by the replacement of three hydrogen atoms in glycerin by acid
radicals.
Tri"glyph (?), n. [L. triglyphus, Gr. &?;; &?; (see Tri-) + &?; to
carve: cf. F. triglyphe.] (Arch.) An ornament in the frieze of the
Doric order, repeated at equal intervals. Each triglyph consists of a
rectangular tablet, slightly projecting, and divided nearly to the top
by two parallel and perpendicular gutters, or channels, called glyphs,
into three parts, or spaces, called femora. A half channel, or glyph,
is also cut upon each of the perpendicular edges of the tablet. See
Illust. of Entablature.
{ Tri*glyph"ic (?), Tri*glyph"ic*al (?), } a. 1. Consisting of, or
pertaining to, triglyphs.