Forms: 4–7 treye, 6–9 tray, 7 trye, 5– trey. [a. OF. and AF. treis, trei, F. trois, dial. tray = Prov. treis, nom. trei, Sp. tres, It. tre:—L. trēs three.]
1. The three at dice or cards. a. Dice. That side of the die that is marked with three pips or spots; a throw that turns up this side.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Pard. T., 325. Seuene is my chaunce, and thyn is cynk and treye [Corpus, Lansd. fyue and þre].
c. 1450. Bk. of Brome, 17. Ȝowr cast wosse sysse and dobyll trey.
1588. Shaks., L. L. L., V. ii. 232. Qu. Hony, and Milke, and Suger: there is three. Ber. Nay then two treyes,… Methegline, Wort, and Malmsey; well runne dice: There’s halfe a dozen sweets.
1668. Dryden, Evening’s Love, III. i. Two sixes and a trey wins it.
1772. Foote, Nabob, II. Wks. 1799, II. 301. Tray, ace, or two deuces.
1910. Nation, 1 Jan., 566/1. There’s luck under the deuce but none under the tray.
b. Cards. That card of any suit which is marked with three spots. rare.
1680. Cotton, Compl. Gamester, xv. (ed. 2), 93. The best Putt-Cards are first the Trey, next the Deuce.
1816. Singer, Hist. Cards, 195. The trey presents us with the separation of a lover and his mistress.
1896. J. K. Bangs, House-boat on Styx, v. 57 I do not know a trey of diamonds from a silver salver.
† c. In proverbial phrase ere you can say trey-ace (see 3), of which treis, trayse appears to be a contracted form. Obs.
1390. Gower, Conf., I. 142. Al sodeinliche, as who seith treis, Wher that he stod in his Paleis, He tok him fro the mennes sihte.
c. 1400. Laud Troy Bk., 8917. A man schuld not so sone say ‘trayse,’ As he fel ded & held his payse.
a. 1553. Udall, Royster D., III. iii. (Arb.), 48. Bydde them high apace. M. Mery. I wyll be here with them ere ye can say trey ace.
2. slang. The number three, in various connections; a set of three; a threepenny piece.
1896. Vizetelly, trans. Zola’s Rome, 372. Stake their luck on a cardinal, just as they nurse a ‘trey’ in the lottery.
1897. Marshall, Pomes, 71 (Farmer). And the magistrate … left but very little doubt That the moons she’d have to do would be a tray.
1907. Daily Chron., 26 July, 4/7. One easily sees why it [threepence] is a ‘tray.’
3. Comb. trey-ace, a throw that turns up trey with one die and ace with the other; so trey-deuce; trey-point = sense 1; † trey-table, a dicing-table; † trey-trace, (?).
a. 1553. *Trey ace [see 1 c].
1725. Ld. Stanhope, in C’tess Suffolk’s Lett. (1824), I. 186. Wishing you all imaginable success at Trey-ace, Commerce, or whatever else may be the prevailing diversion.
1680. Cotton, Compl. Gamester, xxxiii. Hazzard (ed. 2), 122. Five [has] but two chances, Trey Ace and two Deuces, or *Trey Deuce and Quater Ace.
1657. C. Beck, Univ. Char., L vij b. A *tray point on a die.
1646. Evelyn, Mem. (1857), I. 249. There is also a bowling-place, a tavern, and a *trey-table.
1575. R. B., Appius & Virg., B j. With hey tricke, how trowle, trey trip, and *trey trace.
