three of a kind

Meanings

1. 1nouncountable

   In poker and similar card games, a hand containing three cards of the same rank.

   Grammar: The plural is usually three of a kinds, but players often avoid it and say 'two three-of-a-kind hands.'

   Patterns

   • have three of a kind
   • draw three of a kind
   • beat three of a kind

   She won the pot with three of a kind: three queens.

   I had three of a kind but lost to a straight.

   Getting three of a kind in the first five cards is fairly rare.

2. 2phrasefixed phraseinformal

   Three people or things that are very similar in type or character.

   Grammar: Used after a plural or collective noun, as in 'They are three of a kind.'

   Patterns

   • be three of a kind
   • three of a kind together

   Those brothers are three of a kind: all quiet, all kind, all stubborn.

   The three old houses on the hill are three of a kind, built from the same stone.

Word forms

Common combinations

three of a kind beats two pair

In standard poker, three of a kind beats two pair.

a hand with three of a kind

He folded even though he had a hand with three of a kind.

draw three of a kind

It is hard to draw three of a kind when you need two more cards.

three of a kind in poker

Three of a kind in poker ranks below a straight.

Synonyms and how they differ

trips

Trips is poker slang for three of a kind, especially when two of the cards are in your hand.

set

In poker, a set means three of a kind made with a pocket pair, a narrower use than three of a kind.

Word family

kind noun

A type or group of similar things.

pair noun

Two cards of the same rank, the hand just below three of a kind.

Commonly confused: three of a kind or three-of-a-kind?

Practice

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Write a sentence using “three of a kind”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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