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Glite Dictionary
three-on-the-tree

three-on-the-tree

1 9.9
A manual gearbox with three speeds and the gear stick on the steering column
  • noun
  • /θriː ɒn ðə triː/
  • Archaic
translation icon : transmisión de tres velocidades
  • Many older models of cars include the unique three-on-the-tree mechanism for gear shifting.

Examples

  • That night, I drove you back to your motel, your sound equipment and your instruments rattling around in the cavernous van, and I realized I'd never driven a three-on-the-tree.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • I learned to drive using a classic car that had a three-on-the-tree transmission.

  • The vintage pickup truck features a three-on-the-tree, allowing the driver to shift gears smoothly.

Synonyms

stick shift
vsthree-on-the-tree
  • US
5 4.0

A car transmission you operate with a gear stick and clutch pedal

uses a column-mounted gear lever rather than a floor-mounted one

Surface Forms

three-on-the-tree singular
three-on-the-trees plural

Morphology

three-on-the-tree = three + the + tree (semi-transparent) = on + three + the + tree

Built from obvious words 'three on the tree' but the idiomatic automotive meaning (with 'tree' = steering column) is specialized slang and not directly inferable by general learners. [Postprocessing: moved 'on' from base_words to prefix]

Etymology

Three-on-the-tree comes from old cars that had a three-speed gear stick mounted on the steering column, which drivers nicknamed the 'tree'. So the name literally describes three gears 'on' the tree, meaning a three-speed manual gearbox with the shift on the steering column.