subs. (orig. nautical: now general).—1.  A man-of-war carrying guns on three decks: whence (2) a piece of furniture, pulpit, etc., in three tiers (in a pulpit the clerk’s place was at the bottom, the reading-desk on the second stage, and the pulpit highest of all); (3) a three-volume novel, or three-act play; and (4) a coat having three capes round the shoulders.

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  1814.  AUSTEN, Mansfield Park, xli. Before the gentlemen … could … settle the number of THREE-DECKERS now in commission, their companions were ready to proceed.

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  1855.  TENNYSON, Maud, II. ii. 4.

        Of cataract seas that snap
The THREE-DECKER’S oaken spine.

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  1885.  Daily Telegraph, 20 Oct. The modest pulpit of an English church is as yet a rarity, for the complicated and extensive ‘THREE-DECKER’ is still in use all over the country.

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  1888.  W. S. OGDEN, Antique Furniture, 32. A THREE-DECKER sideboard, about 1700.

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  1896.  KIPLING, Seven Seas, ‘The Three-Decker’ [Title et passim].

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