Three-on-the-tree

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    On an automobile (especially those produced from 1939 through the mid-1970s), a three-speed manual transmission whose gearshift lever is a column shifter (mounted on the steering column) (R-N-1-2-3); (metonymic) a vehicle with such a transmission. US, idiomatic

    "In driver's education, they used to teach students to drive in cars with a three-on-the-tree, but now the cars all have automatic transmissions."

Example

More examples

"In driver's education, they used to teach students to drive in cars with a three-on-the-tree, but now the cars all have automatic transmissions."

More for "three-on-the-tree"

SynonymsSentencesPronunciationTranslate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciationBrowse writing guides

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.