black triangle
1. An unidentified flying object (popularly known as a UFO) in the shape of a dark triangle, typically with points of light in each corner. I know you think I'm crazy, but every spring, I see those black triangles appearing over my corn fields at night! The evening news has very conspicuously said nothing about the black triangles. I smell a government cover-up! Yes, that speck in the corner of the photo could be a black triangle piloted by aliens, or it could just be a bit of dust on your camera lens.
2. In Nazi Germany, a badge assigned to concentration camp inmates considered "asocial" or mentally unfit for work. Her clinical depression, which was vilified by the Nazis, meant she had to wear a black triangle in the concentration camp. If this prisoner is an alcoholic, then he is to be given a black triangle. The woman wore a black triangle because the Nazis believed her to be a prostitute.
eternal triangle
A sexual encounter or relationship between three people. Although exciting at first, the eternal triangle caused their relationship to suffer and ultimately end. Why is an eternal triangle so appealing to men? If you ask me, a sexual encounter between three people is just asking for drama! There's no way those two girls will go home with you, bud. Let your dreams of an eternal triangle die now.
love triangle
A situation in which three people are entangled in a romantic connection with one another in some way, especially one that is unsuitable or undesirable for one or more of those involved. The story focuses on a love triangle between the duke, the duchess, and the servant with whom both are enamored. I found myself in a strange love triangle with my best friend and her boyfriend, Jacob.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
(the) eternal triangle
a sexual or emotional relationship involving two women and one man or two men and one woman. (*Typically, a couple [man and woman] and another man or woman.) Henry can't choose between his wife and his mistress. It's the eternal triangle. I'm surprised Jane doesn't get tired of the eternal triangle. She goes out with Peter at the weekend and Jim during the week.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
eternal triangle
A relationship involving three lovers, such as two women involved with one man or two men with one woman. For example, The plot of the murder mystery revolved around the eternal triangle of a husband, wife, and another woman . [c. 1900]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
eternal triangle
a relationship between three people, typically a couple and the lover of one of them, involving sexual rivalry.Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
eternal triangle, the
A threesome of lovers, either two men involved with or vying for one woman or two women and one man. “Eternal” here simply means that this situation has occurred over and over through the ages. The term has been traced to a book review appearing in the London Daily Chronicle in 1907, describing a novel that “deals with the eternal triangle, which, in this case, consists of two men and one woman.”
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer