trice

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   only in 'in a trice': a very short time; an instant

   The stagehands cleared the set in a trice.

2. 2
   verb

   nautical: to haul up and secure something with a rope

   The crew will trice up the boat before the storm reaches the harbor.

The instant sense is connected with the older verb trice, 'to pull or hoist quickly,' borrowed in Middle English from a Middle Dutch or Middle Low German nautical word for hauling gear. A single sharp pull supplied the image behind the phrase in a trice.

Topics