Dou·ble a.
1. Twofold; multiplied by two; increased by its equivalent; made twice as large or as much, etc.
Let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me. -- 2 Kings ii. 9.
Darkness and tempest make a double night. --Dryden.
2. Being in pairs; presenting two of a kind, or two in a set together; coupled.
[Let] The swan, on still St. Mary's lake,
Float double, swan and shadow. --Wordsworth.
3. Divided into two; acting two parts, one openly and the other secretly; equivocal; deceitful; insincere.
With a double heart do they speak. -- Ps. xii. 2.
4. Bot. Having the petals in a flower considerably increased beyond the natural number, usually as the result of cultivation and the expense of the stamens, or stamens and pistils. The white water lily and some other plants have their blossoms naturally double.
Note: ☞ Double is often used as the first part of a compound word, generally denoting two ways, or twice the number, quantity, force, etc., twofold, or having two.
Double base, or Double bass Mus., the largest and lowest-toned instrument in the violin form; the contrabasso or violone.
Double convex. See under Convex.
Double counterpoint Mus., that species of counterpoint or composition, in which two of the parts may be inverted, by setting one of them an octave higher or lower.
Double court Lawn Tennis, a court laid out for four players, two on each side.
Double dagger Print., a reference mark (‡) next to the dagger (†) in order; a diesis.
Double drum Mus., a large drum that is beaten at both ends.
Double eagle, a gold coin of the United States having the value of 20 dollars.
Double entry. See under Bookkeeping.
Double floor Arch., a floor in which binding joists support flooring joists above and ceiling joists below. See Illust. of Double-framed floor.
Double flower. See Double, a., 4.
Double-framed floor Arch., a double floor having girders into which the binding joists are framed.
Double fugue Mus., a fugue on two subjects.
Double letter. (a) Print. Two letters on one shank; a ligature. (b) A mail requiring double postage.
Double note Mus., a note of double the length of the semibreve; a breve. See Breve.
Double octave Mus., an interval composed of two octaves, or fifteen notes, in diatonic progression; a fifteenth.
Double pica. See under Pica.
Double play Baseball, a play by which two players are put out at the same time.
Double plea Law, a plea alleging several matters in answer to the declaration, where either of such matters alone would be a sufficient bar to the action. --Stephen.
Double point Geom., a point of a curve at which two branches cross each other. Conjugate or isolated points of a curve are called double points, since they possess most of the properties of double points (see Conjugate). They are also called acnodes, and those points where the branches of the curve really cross are called crunodes. The extremity of a cusp is also a double point.
Double quarrel. Eccl. Law See Duplex querela, under Duplex.
Double refraction. Opt. See Refraction.
Double salt. Chem. (a) A mixed salt of any polybasic acid which has been saturated by different bases or basic radicals, as the double carbonate of sodium and potassium, NaKCO3.6H2O. (b) A molecular combination of two distinct salts, as common alum, which consists of the sulphate of aluminium, and the sulphate of potassium or ammonium.
Double shuffle, a low, noisy dance.
Double standard Polit. Econ., a double standard of monetary values; i. e., a gold standard and a silver standard, both of which are made legal tender.
Double star Astron., two stars so near to each other as to be seen separate only by means of a telescope. Such stars may be only optically near to each other, or may be physically connected so that they revolve round their common center of gravity, and in the latter case are called also binary stars.
Double time Mil.. Same as Double-quick.
Double window, a window having two sets of glazed sashes with an air space between them.
Ea·gle n.
1. Zoöl. Any large, rapacious bird of the Falcon family, esp. of the genera Aquila and Haliæetus. The eagle is remarkable for strength, size, graceful figure, keenness of vision, and extraordinary flight. The most noted species are the golden eagle (Aquila chrysaëtus); the imperial eagle of Europe (Aquila mogilnik or Aquila imperialis); the American bald eagle (Haliæetus leucocephalus); the European sea eagle (Haliæetus albicilla); and the great harpy eagle (Thrasaetus harpyia). The figure of the eagle, as the king of birds, is commonly used as an heraldic emblem, and also for standards and emblematic devices. See Bald eagle, Harpy, and Golden eagle.
2. A gold coin of the United States, of the value of ten dollars.
3. Astron. A northern constellation, containing Altair, a star of the first magnitude. See Aquila.
4. The figure of an eagle borne as an emblem on the standard of the ancient Romans, or so used upon the seal or standard of any people.
Though the Roman eagle shadow thee. --Tennyson.
Note: ☞ Some modern nations, as the United States, and France under the Bonapartes, have adopted the eagle as their national emblem. Russia, Austria, and Prussia have for an emblem a double-headed eagle.
Bald eagle. See Bald eagle.
Bold eagle. See under Bold.
Double eagle, a gold coin of the United States worth twenty dollars.
Eagle hawk Zoöl., a large, crested, South American hawk of the genus Morphnus.
Eagle owl Zoöl., any large owl of the genus Bubo, and allied genera; as the American great horned owl (Bubo Virginianus), and the allied European species (B. maximus). See Horned owl.
Eagle ray Zoöl., any large species of ray of the genus Myliobatis (esp. M. aquila).
Eagle vulture Zoöl., a large West African bid (Gypohierax Angolensis), intermediate, in several respects, between the eagles and vultures.
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double eagle
n 1: (golf) a score of three strokes under par on a hole
2: a former gold coin in the United States worth 20 dollars