three-pointer

A goal or other means of scoring worth three points.

Noun

  1. A goal or other means of scoring worth three points.
    • Here Colgate stiffened, so Will place-kicked a 33-yard three-pointer from the 23 to put the Lions in front 10-7. - 1944, “Football at mid-season”, in Columbia Alumni News:
    • Barry John's try was the last three-pointer to be scored for Wales. - 1982, David Parry-Jones, The Golden Years of Welsh Rugby:
  2. A three-point shot; a basket made from beyond the three-point line.
    • A basket by Texas' Hamilton and a three-pointer by Madsen put the Longhorns ahead. - 1948, The Official National Collegiate Athletic Association Basketball Guide:
    • I'd like to see a long shot beyond an established line become a three pointer. It would stand out like a home run in baseball. - 1966, Bob Pettit, Bob Wolf, Bob Pettit: The Drive Inside Me:
  3. A three-point landing; an airplane landing in which all three wheels touch the ground simultaneously.
    • October 1930, Paul Paddock, "I Solo in Seven Hours", Popular Mechanics Away I roared once more, resolved to score a three-pointer. I glided down to a good start but estimated my altitude wrongly.
  4. A deer or other animal whose antlers feature three points or tines.
    • ...one a three-pointer, the other a seven-pointer, and the one still lying down, a spike. - 1918, John B. Griffin, “A Fight with the 'Bald Faced' Bear”, in Oregon Sportsman:

Origin

From three + point + -er.

Forms

three-pointers