ENGLISH
REFERENCE

three Musketeers

idiom
Meaning

A group of three people who are very closely associated; a trio.


Origin

first recorded 19th c.

Named after the 1844 historical adventure novel The Three Musketeers, originally published as French Les Trois Mousquetaires, by Alexandre Dumas.

Examples
SIMPLE

The three friends are like the Three Musketeers.

CONTEXTUAL

The three coworkers always eat lunch together, so everyone calls them the Three Musketeers.

COMPLEX

After years of inseparable friendship, the trio became known as the Three Musketeers, always appearing together at every major social event in the city.

Anchors to
Related idioms8entries
  1. 01

    count to three

    Synonym of count to ten.

  2. 02

    me three

    Used to express agreement, after someone has already said "me too." Can be continued as "me four," "me five," and so on.

  3. 03

    three guys in a garage

    A small, agile group of startup innovators with a big idea, passion, and modest resources.

  4. 04

    three score and ten

    Seventy, being the number of years in a full lifetime of traditionally-expected duration.

  5. 05

    three sheets to the wind

    Unsteady from drink.

  6. 06

    three skips of a louse

    The worth of some trifling or insignificant matter; a whit or jot of value.

  7. 07

    three squares

    Three square meals, understood as a complete, satisfying, and nourishing regimen of food taken over the course of a day.

  8. 08

    three Stooges

    A group of three stupid people.

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