double

Etymology

PIE word *dwóh₁ From Middle English double, from Old French doble, double, from Latin duplus (“twofold”). Doublet of doppio and duple.

adj

1. Made up of two matching or complementary elements.
   The closet has double doors.
   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. 2013-08-10, Lexington, “Keeping the mighty honest”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8848
2. Of twice the quantity.
   Give me a double serving of mashed potatoes.
3. 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. Designed for two users.
   a double room
5. Folded in two; composed of two layers.
6. Stooping; bent over.
7. Having two aspects; ambiguous.
   a double meaning
8. False, deceitful, or hypocritical.
   a double life
   A fals double tunge is more fiers and fell Then Cerberus the cur couching in the kenel of hel; Wherof hereafter, I thinke for to write, 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.
    a double bass
11. (music) Of time, twice as fast.

adv

1. Twice over; twofold; doubly.
   February 7 1736, Jonathan Swift, letter to Alexander Pope I was double their age.
2. Two together; two at a time.
   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.
   The old man was bent double under his heavy burden.

noun

1. Twice the number, amount, size, etc.
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. 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 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.
   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.
7. (baseball) A two-base hit.
   The catcher hit a double to lead off the ninth.
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.
   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. 1 May 2023, 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.
    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. (computing, programming) A double-precision floating-point number.
    The sine function returns a double.
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.
    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. December 28, 2010, 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.
    In 1996, Michael Johnson achieved a double by winning both the 200 and 400 meter dashes.
19. (historical) A former French coin worth one-sixth of a sou.
20. (historical, Guernsey) 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. 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

1. (transitive) To multiply by two.
   The company doubled their earnings per share over last quarter.
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.
4. (transitive) To fold over so as to make two folds.
   To make a pleat, double the material at the waist.
5. (transitive, sometimes followed by up) To clench (a fist).
6. (baseball) To get a two-base hit.
   The batter doubled into the corner.
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.
   A spork is a kind of fork that doubles as a spoon.
10. (transitive, intransitive, 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. 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).
    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).
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.
20. (transitive) To multiply the strength or effect of by two.
    Sorry, this store does not double coupons.
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.
    Could you please repeat your last transmission? Another station was doubling with you.
23. (espionage, 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 […] 1973, National Lampoon, page 12