trifecta
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /tɹaɪˈfɛktə/
Forms: form: trifectas
Etymology: From tri- + (per)fecta.
Senses: examples: text: The conservative player will play the exacta box bet and the occasional trifecta box wager.
ref: 2006, Vincent Conti, Thoroughbred Horse Racing Systems and Methodologies, page 9:
text: In a trifecta, you must wager on three horses: the one that finishes first (win), the one that finishes second (place), and the one that finishes third (show) in order.
ref: 2010, Leonard A. Asimow, Mark M. Maxwell, Probability and Statistics with Applications: A Problem Solving Text, page 10:
topics: gambling
games
glosses: A bet in which the bettor must select the first three placegetters of a race in the order in which they finish.
examples: text: The money picture for Santorum could change after his trifecta win in Colorado, Minnesota, and Missouri Tuesday night.
ref: 2012 February 8, Jackie Koszczuk, “Santorum Is Still Losing the Most Important Race: Money”, in The Atlantic:
text: At the same time, he said, it could be that Mr. Netanyahu is “seeking a trifecta” with the strikes on Monday: pushing Hamas to give in, showing the Israeli public that he did hit Rafah as promised and getting credit from the Biden administration for not mounting the full-scale assault that Washington fears would result in a civilian catastrophe.
ref: 2024 May 7, Peter Baker, “Inside the White House Scramble to Broker a Deal in Gaza”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
glosses: The attainment of three important achievements, qualities, etc.
examples: text: Along with runtime errors, two other errors we saw earlier round out the JavaScript bug trifecta: syntax errors, logic errors, and runtime errors.
ref: 2007, Michael Morrison, Head First JavaScript, page 525:
text: I might never have learned my name or met my birth family if I hadn't ended up in the hospital in Rhode Island in 2007, after traveling to a trifecta of malaria hotspots: Mali, Egypt and Colombia.
ref: 2013 November 27, Emily Jane O'Dell, “Deep cover”, in The New York Times:
text: And the Amy Schumer, Wanda Sykes, and Regina Hall trifecta stumbled through inconsistent chemistry as they, too, attempted to insult their peers.
ref: 2024 March 10, Fran Hoepfner, “What Billy Crystal Knew About Hosting the Oscars”, in The Atlantic:
glosses: A set of three related things, often things that cause problems.
examples: text: In fact, there are about a dozen states, including California, Massachusetts, Washington, and Illinois, where Democrats have won the trifecta—they control the governor's seat as well as both houses of the state legislature.
ref: 2013 June 26, Steven Hill, “So the Voting Rights Act Is Gutted—What Can Protect Minority Voters Now?”, in The Atlantic:
text: It’s not just Florida, of course. Republican trifectas in states across the country have introduced and passed dozens of bills aimed at the public existence of trans and other gender-nonconforming people.
ref: 2023 December 12, Jamelle Bouie, “Red States and Blue States Are Becoming Different Countries”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
topics: government
politics
glosses: The complete legislative and executive control of state or federal government by one party: governorship, the upper house, and the lower house of state or federal legislatures.
Related terms: perfecta
superfecta
quadfecta
exacta