Triple Bond Definition & Meaning

American

British

Examples

triple bond American

noun

Chemistry.

1. a chemical linkage consisting of three covalent bonds between two atoms of a molecule, represented in chemical formulas by three lines or six dots, as CH≡CH or CH⋮⋮CH.

triple bond British

noun

1. a type of chemical bond consisting of three distinct covalent bonds linking two atoms in a molecule

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Each atom might form either a double bond on each side — meaning the adjacent atoms share two electrons — or a triple bond on one side and a single bond on the other.

From Nature

“In the meantime, you tout your relationship with the mayor, you talk about the city’s triple bond rating and you have staff to deal with little things.”

From Washington Post

Around this time, Dr. Roberts performed perhaps his most famous experiment, which produced the short-lived molecule benzyne, a form of the molecule benzene that contained a triple bond, which people at one time did not think could exist.

From New York Times

Atmospheric nitrogen is N2, a molecule consisting of two nitrogen atoms held together with an incredibly strong "triple bond", in which the atoms pool six electrons.

From BBC

"Like almost all explosives, it exploits the tendency of nitrogen to form that triple bond."

From BBC

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.