trifecta
2
8.9
- noun
- /trɪˈfɛktə/
- Jargon
- I think we'll have a trifecta next week.
- hit the trifecta
- trifecta bet
Examples
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So what happens if you hit the trifecta?
Blog text (20) -
- Right after I hit the trifecta in the sixth.
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So if you want to win the trifecta, post trifecta in the comments box below.
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So bring at least a dollar... and remember to ask Mom and Dad what a trifecta is.
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She had won the trifecta.
Fiction book (1997) -
Broken Spell closed well for the place, and Magical Moon rounded out the trifecta two lengths back in third.
Blog text (33) -
Summer Soiree paid $9 to show and was part of a $1 trifecta worth $3,018.80.
Blog text (14) -
So Lucky, Scatman, and Dullahan as potential big payout trifecta.
Blog text (23) -
Still, with so many good horses splitting up the top, trifectas will be very good but not crazy unless we get a 20-1 in there.
Blog text (23) -
To win the race, you need to place a bet on the trifecta, predicting the first three horses in the exact order.
How Many
Surface Forms
Morphology
trifecta = exacta (opaque) = tri + fecta
Although 'tri-' signals 'three', the specialized betting meaning (predicting the first three in exact order) and the non‑productive element 'fecta' are not derivable by average learners.
Etymology
Trifecta comes from the betting word perfecta plus the prefix tri-, which means 'three' (as in 'trio' or 'triangle'). A perfecta asked you to pick the first two horses in order, so a trifecta asks for the first three in the exact order, which is why it names that specific horse-racing bet.