| 释义 |
threepence|ˈθrɪpəns, ˈθrɛpəns|
[f. three + pence, collective pl. of penny.]
1. A sum of money equal in value to three pennies.
1605B. Jonson Volpone ii. i, What monstrous..circumstance Is here, to get some three or four gazettes, Some three-pence in the whole! 1701Cibber Love makes Man v. ii, Ang...Fortune, once again, is kind; but how it comes about— D. Lew. Does not signify Three pence. 1849Sk. Nat. Hist., Mammalia IV. 12 In Pennsylvania an old law existed offering threepence a head for every squirrel destroyed.
2. Hist. A coin of this value, originally of silver, and later of nickel brass and dodecagonal in shape; a threepenny piece.
At the time it was discontinued, the silver threepence was the smallest silver coin of Great Britain.
1589Hay any Work (1844) 11 A round threepence serueth the turn. 1675Lond. Gaz. No. 987/4 One Purse.., and therein..about 18 new Groats, Three-pences, and Two-pences. 1712–13Swift Jrnl. to Stella 23 Jan., Dr. Pratt and I..with the Bishop of Clogher,..played at ombre for threepences. 1824Miss Mitford Village Ser. i. (1863) 235, I would venture the lowest stake of gentility, a silver three-pence, that [etc.]. 1898G. B. Rawlings Brit. Coinage 53 Edward VI coined..a silver crown, half-crown, sixpence, and threepence. |