Trice

/tɹaɪs/ · verb

Meaning

(transitive, obsolete) To pull, to pull out or away, to pull sharply..

Definitions by Sense

1. (transitive, obsolete) To pull, to pull out or away, to pull sharply.
2. (transitive) To drag or haul, especially with a rope; specifically (nautical) to haul or hoist and tie up by means of a rope.
3. Now only in the phrase in a trice: a very short time; the blink of an eye, an instant, a moment.
4. (obsolete, rare) A pulley, a windlass (“form of winch for lifting heavy weights, comprising a cable or rope wound around a cylinder”).

Example Sentences

The tent is made of light, close, unbleached duck, […] A window, six inches square, is fitted at the upper end with a flap to trice up or haul down.

... the fold of his double chin hung like a bag triced up close under the hinge of his jaw.

One of the two men landed had shot and wounded the mate, and the other, known as "Doublin Jack," had knocked the second mate down with a handspike. Captain Low put both these men in irons, triced them up in the mizzen rigging, and gave them each four dozen lashes of ratline stuff, which they had well earned.

Miſtruſtfully he truſteth, and he dreadingly did dare, / And fortie paſſions in a trice in him conſort and ſquare.

This is most ſtrange, that ſhe, who even but now / Was your beſt object, the argument of your praiſe, / Balme of your age, moſt beſt, moſt deereſt, / Should in this trice of time commit a thing / So monſtrous, to diſmantell ſo many foulds of fauour, […]

He saw a Turnkey in a trice / Unfetter a troublesome blade;

Till I came to the marge of Lake Lebarge, and a derelict there lay; / It was jammed in the ice, but I saw in a trice it was called the "Alice May." / And I looked at it, and I thought a bit, and I looked at my frozen chum; / Then "Here," said I, with a sudden cry, "is my cre-ma-tor-eum."

And in a trice he has clambered onto the kitchen dresser and is reaching for the top shelf.

Synonyms for trice

Antonyms for trice

Related Words

Word Forms

• trices
• tricing
• triced
• trise

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

Practice and Learn More

Frequently Asked Questions