Dictionary

rule of three en · PROPN

Meanings

1. A rule stating that, if two ratios are equal, then the denominator of the second equals its numerator times the reciprocal of the first ratio: if a/b=c/d then d=(bc)/a.
   • Multiplication is vexation, / Division is as bad; / The Rule of Three doth puzzle me, / And Practice drives me mad. 1886, James Orchard Haliwell, The Nursery Rhymes of England, 5th edition, page 78:
2. A rule for clinical trials used for determining the rate of adverse side effects when no such side effects present during the course of the trial.
3. (rhetoric) A rule which states that things which come in groups of three are inherently funnier or more effective than things which come in groups of other sizes.
4. (rhetoric) A rule which states that things which come in groups of three are inherently funnier or more effective than things which come in groups of other sizes. ▸ Specifically, the technique of having a setup in advance, a reminder to keep it fresh in the audience's memory, and then a payoff.
5. A religious tenet stating that the energy a person puts out into the world, positive or negative, will be returned to that person threefold.
6. A rule of thumb in the C++ programming language, stating that any class that defines a destructor, a copy constructor, or a copy assignment operator should define all three of them.
7. (qualifier:survival) A mnemonic guideline that outlines the average limits of human endurance.

Forms

Relateds

cross-multiplication

Translations (6)

pl reguła trzech (mathematical rule) · tl tuntunin ng tatlo (mathematical rule) · es regla de tres (mathematical rule) · ro regulă de trei (mathematical rule) · fi kolmen sääntö (mathematical rule) · fr règle de trois (mathematical rule)