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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

double.

Made up of two matching or complementary elements.

6 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

adj/ˈdʌb.əl/Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation[ˈdʌb.ɫ̩]Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation
  1. Made up of two matching or complementary elements.

    not-comparable
    The closet has double doors.
  2. Of twice the quantity.

    not-comparable
    Give me a double serving of mashed potatoes.
    Britain's population density used to be double that of China.
  3. Of a family relationship, related on both the maternal and paternal sides of a family.

    not-comparable
    He's my double cousin as my mother's sister married my father's brother.
  4. Designed for two (people, cars, etc.).

    not-comparable
    a double room
    a double garage
  5. Folded in two; composed of two layers.

    not-comparable
  6. Stooping; bent over.

    not-comparable
  7. Having two aspects; ambiguous.

    not-comparable
    a double meaning
  8. False, deceitful, or hypocritical.

    not-comparable
    a double life
  9. Of flowers, having more than the normal number of petals.

    not-comparable
  10. Of an instrument, sounding an octave lower.

    not-comparable
    a double bass
  11. Of time, twice as fast.

    not-comparable
Where this word comes from

PIE word *dwóh₁ Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁ Proto-Indo-European *dwi- Proto-Indo-European *-plos Proto-Indo-European *dwiplós Proto-Italic *dwiplos Proto-Italic *duplos Latin duplus Old French dobleder. Middle English double English double From Middle English double, from Old French doble, double, from Latin duplus (“twofold”). Doublet of doppio and duple.

adv/ˈdʌb.əl/Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation[ˈdʌb.ɫ̩]Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation
  1. Twice over; twofold; doubly.

    not-comparable
  2. Two together; two at a time.

    not-comparable
    When I met the twins, I thought I was seeing double.
    There are only a few beds, so some of the children will have to sleep double for the night.
  3. Into two halves or sections.

    not-comparable
    The old man was bent double under his heavy burden.
Where this word comes from

PIE word *dwóh₁ Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁ Proto-Indo-European *dwi- Proto-Indo-European *-plos Proto-Indo-European *dwiplós Proto-Italic *dwiplos Proto-Italic *duplos Latin duplus Old French dobleder. Middle English double English double From Middle English double, from Old French doble, double, from Latin duplus (“twofold”). Doublet of doppio and duple.

noun/ˈdʌb.əl/Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation[ˈdʌb.ɫ̩]Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation
  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.

  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.
    Before printing the photos, Liam deleted the 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.

  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.

  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.

  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. A former French coin worth one-sixth of a sou.

    historical
  22. A copper coin worth one-eighth of a penny.

    Guernsey · historical
  23. Playing the same part on two instruments, alternately.

  24. A double feast.

  25. Synonym of double-quick (“fast marching pace”).

  26. A secondary instrument with which a musician is skilled.

  27. A double-cross or betrayal.

    dated · slang
  28. A double agent.

  29. Someone who identifies with the same kintype.

    slang
  30. Someone who yumeships with the same character as another person.

    slang
Where this word comes from

PIE word *dwóh₁ Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁ Proto-Indo-European *dwi- Proto-Indo-European *-plos Proto-Indo-European *dwiplós Proto-Italic *dwiplos Proto-Italic *duplos Latin duplus Old French dobleder. Middle English double English double From Middle English double, from Old French doble, double, from Latin duplus (“twofold”). Doublet of doppio and duple.

verb/ˈdʌb.əl/Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation[ˈdʌb.ɫ̩]Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation
  1. To multiply by two.

    transitive
    The company doubled their earnings per share over last quarter.
  2. To increase by 100%, to become twice as large in size.

    intransitive
    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.

  4. To fold over so as to make two folds.

    transitive
    To make a pleat, double the material at the waist.
  5. To clench (a fist).

    sometimes · transitive
  6. To get a two-base hit.

    The batter doubled into the corner.
  7. To join or couple.

    often · transitive
  8. To repeat exactly; copy.

    transitive
  9. To serve a second role or have a second purpose.

    intransitive
    A spork is a kind of fork that doubles as a spoon.
  10. To act as substitute for (another theatrical performer in a certain role, etc).

    ambitransitive · sometimes
  11. To play (both one part and another, in the same play, etc).

  12. To turn sharply, following a winding course.

    intransitive
  13. To sail around (a headland or other point).

  14. To duplicate (a part) either in unison or at the octave above or below it.

  15. To be capable of performing (upon an additional instrument).

    intransitive · usually
  16. To make a call that will double certain scoring points if the preceding bid becomes the contract.

  17. To double down.

    intransitive
  18. To cause (a ball) to rebound from a cushion before entering the pocket.

  19. To go or march at twice the normal speed.

    intransitive
  20. To multiply the strength or effect of by two.

    transitive
    Sorry, this store does not double coupons.
  21. To unite, as ranks or files, so as to form one from each two.

  22. To transmit simultaneously on the same channel as another station, either unintentionally or deliberately, causing interference.

    informal
    Could you please repeat your last transmission? Another station was doubling with you.
  23. To operate as a double agent.

    intransitive
Where this word comes from

PIE word *dwóh₁ Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁ Proto-Indo-European *dwi- Proto-Indo-European *-plos Proto-Indo-European *dwiplós Proto-Italic *dwiplos Proto-Italic *duplos Latin duplus Old French dobleder. Middle English double English double From Middle English double, from Old French doble, double, from Latin duplus (“twofold”). Doublet of doppio and duple.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.