A double is a bid in bridge to increase the score or penalty for the hand. See redouble.

A double is also a hit in baseball in which the batter reaches second base.

A double can also be an identical twin or a person who looks like you, as in stunt double.

A duplicate key, usually made from an impression taken of tumblers by coating a blank key with paraffin and gently turning it. "Get a double made of that screw (key), and we'll prowl (burglarize) the joint."

- american underworld dictionary - 1950

In rowing, a two-man shell, each with two oars or sculls. Each rower sits on a sliding seat and propels the shell down a 2000m course in a bit over six minutes at the Olympic level. Brad Lewis and Paul Enquist were the most recent US gold medal in rowing, at the Los Angeles Games in the double sculls.

Other rowing events include the eight, four, and pair oared sweeps, and the quad and single sculls.

In music, the act of playing more than one instrument for a recording or during a performance. Literally, "to double", or "doubling".

Common doublings are:

  • A flautist is almost always capable of playing the piccolo. The bass flute, pitched a full octave lower than the flute, should also not be a problem. The alto flute, or flute in G, is a transposing instrument but likewise should not be difficult. the difficulty in writing for bass or alto flure is in actually aquiring the instruments.
  • Clarinet players should be able to play bass clarinet and tenor saxophone as all of these instruments are in Bb. The technique does vary from instrument to instrument but if you are writing doublings, professionals should be playing your piece in the first place. The contrabass and contra-alto clarinet, while fearsome to lug around, should also be in the repertoire of a respectable clarinetist.
  • Saxophonists should be able to play any saxophone. The possible exception here is asking a soprano specialist to throw down on a bass saxophone, since the size of the instrument and thus the mouthpiece varies so much. Embouchure is a cruel bitch mistress, and no aspiring composer should forget that.
  • Oboes can usually double on an english horn (pitched in F) and more rarely, the oboe d'amore and the bass oboe. The oboe d'amoure will prove more difficult considering that it's transposition (a minor third up, in the key of A) is kind of odd, although not unheard of. This same theory belies the ability of the bassoon family, in that a bassoon player can almost always play a contrabassoon.
  • Horn players are almost always protective of their embouchure and as such are loathe to play other brass instruments.
  • Trumpet players can usually play cornets and alto trumpets, or as Rimsky-Korsakov called them, the "little trumpets in D".
  • Trombone players are usually more than happy play bass trombone so long as the instrument in question features a trigger system similar to their own horn.
  • Tuba, euphonium, and baritone players are usually interchangable. The euphonium and baritone are relatively new instruments but all are in C and feature common fingering systems.
In short, you shouldn't expect anyone but an extreme specialist to be able to play a tenor sax for 18 measures and then pick up a french horn. I'm sure people like this exist but don't write around the assumption.
Double

you're sittin' there wondering why is it like this
and the whole world's crazy and the earth is sick
and someone's yelling from the bathroom door
the toilet's overflowing on the floor
and the one by the phone says i cannot hear
while the one by the jukebox spills his beer
and the man on the pinball hits sixteen mil
someone ducks behind the counter to pop a pill
and you reach in your pocket to see if there's more
and the biggest bill falls so you're left with four
and you're too gone to look but you still try
then you see it in the hand of a great big guy
who looks just like he'd kill you fast
and you think for a minute
you let it pass

and the stool falls over when you set back down
it bumps a mean pool shooter from across the town
he misses his shot - it's all on you
and with your last four bucks you know what you'll do
sorry man can i buy you a drink
and he shakes his head and says, make it a double

the next thing you know you wake up at home
and the little one there won't leave you alone
she's awake and hungry
she needs some potty help
and you remember what happened last time she tried it by herself
and your wife says hurry, we're late for church
and you can barely see
and your head still hurts
and the preacher starts preaching
and you feel remorse
he's got five little kids and a big divorce
and your wife looks down and says she don't know how
he's been her guiding light for ten years now
and his marriage is over, it's barely alive
and how in the world will ours ever survive?

by Mike Knott of Lifesavers Underground or L.S.U. (full lyrics of the album Grace Shaker, where this song is from, can be found on http://www.michaelknott.com/lyrics/grace.html)

Mike Knott has been, as long as I've known about him, an ugly duckling of the Christian music scene. He's fought with alcoholism for most of his professional career and then some. I saw him perform live for the first time after having been a long time fan of his style of music (which, when with the Lifesavers, is surf rock, pretty much) at last year's Cornerstone, a sort of Woodstock for Christians. Now, I smoke and drink and see nothing morally wrong on either issue, but alcoholism is something I think we can all agree is destructive, no matter what we believe in spiritually. He was performing in a tribute to another Christian musician and good friend, Gene Eugene, a member of the bands Adam Again and The Lost Dogs (a conglomerate band that included Knotts in its members), who had died in his sleep of a brain aneurysm months before.

Now, we all know how the religious right reacts to sinful behavior, but to me Mike Knott is a testament to human fuckups. He still got to play at the show and was well respected and appreciated. That's says more about so-called religious freaks than what we normally are led to believe.

Dou"ble (?), a. [OE. doble, duble, double, OF. doble, duble, double, F. double, fr. L. duplus, fr. the root of duo two, and perh. that of plenus full; akin to Gr. double. See Two, and Full, and cf. Diploma, Duple.]

1.

Twofold; multiplied by two; increased by its equivalent; made twice as large or as much, etc.

Let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me. 2 Kings ii. 9.

Darkness and tempest make a double night. Dryden.

2.

Being in pairs; presenting two of a kind, or two in a set together; coupled.

[Let] The swan, on still St. Mary's lake, Float double, swan and shadow. Wordsworth.

3.

Divided into two; acting two parts, one openly and the other secretly; equivocal; deceitful; insincere.

With a double heart do they speak. Ps. xii. 2.

4. Bot.

Having the petals in a flower considerably increased beyond the natural number, usually as the result of cultivation and the expense of the stamens, or stamens and pistils. The white water lily and some other plants have their blossoms naturally double.

Double is often used as the first part of a compound word, generally denoting two ways, or twice the number, quantity, force, etc., twofold, or having two.

Double base, ∨ Double bass Mus., the largest and lowest-toned instrument in the violin form; the contrabasso or violone. -- Double convex. See under Convex. -- Double counterpoint Mus., that species of counterpoint or composition, in which two of the parts may be inverted, by setting one of them an octave higher or lower. -- Double court Lawn Tennis, a court laid out for four players, two on each side. -- Double dagger Print., a reference mark (‡) next to the dagger (†) in order; a diesis. -- Double drum Mus., a large drum that is beaten at both ends. -- Double eagle, a gold coin of the United States having the value of 20 dollars. -- Double entry. See under Bookkeeping. -- Double floor Arch., a floor in which binding joists support flooring joists above and ceiling joists below. See Illust. of Double-framed floor. -- Double flower. See Double, a., 4. -- Double-framed floor Arch., a double floor having girders into which the binding joists are framed. -- Double fugue Mus., a fugue on two subjects. -- Double letter. (a) Print. Two letters on one shank; a ligature. (b) A mail requiring double postage. -- Double note Mus., a note of double the length of the semibreve; a breve. See Breve. -- Double octave Mus., an interval composed of two octaves, or fifteen notes, in diatonic progression; a fifteenth. -- Double pica. See under Pica. -- Double play Baseball, a play by which two players are put out at the same time. -- Double plea Law, a plea alleging several matters in answer to the declaration, where either of such matters alone would be a sufficient bar to the action. Stephen. -- Double point Geom., a point of a curve at which two branches cross each other. Conjugate or isolated points of a curve are called double points, since they possess most of the properties of double points (see Conjugate). They are also called acnodes, and those points where the branches of the curve really cross are called crunodes. The extremity of a cusp is also a double point. -- Double quarrel. Eccl.Law See Duplex querela, under Duplex. -- Double refraction. Opt. See Refraction. -- Double salt. Chem. (a) A mixed salt of any polybasic acid which has been saturated by different bases or basic radicals, as the double carbonate of sodium and potassium, NaKCO3.6H2O. (b) A molecular combination of two distinct salts, as common alum, which consists of the sulphate of aluminium, and the sulphate of potassium or ammonium. -- Double shuffle, a low, noisy dance. -- Double standard Polit. Econ., a double standard of monetary values; i. e., a gold standard and a silver standard, both of which are made legal tender. -- Double star Astron., two stars so near to each other as to be seen separate only by means of a telescope. Such stars may be only optically near to each other, or may be physically connected so that they revolve round their common center of gravity, and in the latter case are called also binary stars. -- Double time Mil.. Same as Double-quick. -- Double window, a window having two sets of glazed sashes with an air space between them.

 

© Webster 1913.


Dou"ble (?), adv.

Twice; doubly.

I was double their age. Swift.

 

© Webster 1913.


Dou"ble, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Doubled (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Doubling (?).] [OE. doblen, dublen, doublen, F. doubler, fr. L. duplare, fr. duplus. See Double, a.]

1.

To increase by adding an equal number, quantity, length, value, or the like; multiply by two; to double a sum of money; to double a number, or length.

Double six thousand, and then treble that. Shak.

2.

To make of two thicknesses or folds by turning or bending together in the middle; to fold one part upon another part of; as, to double the leaf of a book, and the like; to clinch, as the fist; -- often followed by up; as, to double up a sheet of paper or cloth.

<-- also double over -->

Prior.

Then the old man Was wroth, and doubled up his hands. Tennyson.

3.

To be the double of; to exceed by twofold; to contain or be worth twice as much as.

Thus reenforced, against the adverse fleet, Still doubling ours, brave Rupert leads the way. Dryden.

4.

To pass around or by; to march or sail round, so as to reverse the direction of motion.

Sailing along the coast, the doubled the promontory of Carthage. Knolles.

5. Mil.

To unite, as ranks or files, so as to form one from each two.

 

© Webster 1913.


Dou"ble, v. i.

1.

To be increased to twice the sum, number, quantity, length, or value; to increase or grow to twice as much.

'T is observed in particular nations, that within the space of three hundred years, notwithstanding all casualties, the number of men doubles. T. Burnet.

2.

To return upon one's track; to turn and go back over the same ground, or in an opposite direction.

Doubling and turning like a hunted hare. Dryden.

Doubling and doubling with laborious walk. Wordsworth.

3.

To play tricks; to use sleights; to play false.

What penalty and danger you accrue, If you be found to double. J. Webster.

4. Print.

To set up a word or words a second time by mistake; to make a doublet.

To double upon Mil., to inclose between two fires.

 

© Webster 1913.


Dou"ble, n.

1.

Twice as much; twice the number, sum, quantity, length, value, and the like.

If the thief be found, let him pay double. Ex. xxii. 7.

2.

Among compositors, a doublet (see Doublet,

2.); among pressmen, a sheet that is twice pulled, and blurred.

3.

That which is doubled over or together; a doubling; a plait; a fold.

Rolled up in sevenfold double Of plagues. Marston.

4.

A turn or circuit in running to escape pursues; hence, a trick; a shift; an artifice.

These men are too well acquainted with the chase to be flung off by any false steps or doubles. Addison.

5.

Something precisely equal or counterpart to another; a counterpart. Hence, a wraith.

My charming friend . . . has, I am almost sure, a double, who preaches his afternoon sermons for him. Atlantic Monthly.

6.

A player or singer who prepares to take the part of another player in his absence; a substitute.

7.

Double beer; strong beer.

8. Eccl.

A feast in which the antiphon is doubled, hat is, said twice, before and after the Psalms, instead of only half being said, as in simple feasts.

Shipley.

9. Lawn Tennis

A game between two pairs of players; as, a first prize for doubles.

10. Mus.

An old term for a variation, as in Bach's Suites.

 

© Webster 1913.

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