Word.ws English Dictionary

third class

third class is the alternative spelling of third-class.

Noun

third class (countable and uncountable, plural third classes)

  1. (US) A reduced-rate mail service for printed matter.
  2. A class of accommodation in travel below second class.
    1. (UK, historical) The cheapest accommodation on a train or ship.
      • Mail trains are limited to first and second class passengers, but on the mixed trains third class is also provided, and this is patronised exclusively by natives.1940 December, O. S. M. Raw, “The Rhodesia Railways—II”, in Railway Magazine, page 640
      • Mayhew's survey found that 69 per cent of Met travellers went by third class, 20.5 per cent second, 10.5 per cent first. The Met would abolish second class in 1905 at the time of electrification.2012, Andrew Martin, Underground Overground: A passenger's history of the Tube, Profile Books, →ISBN, page 46

Meaning of third-class

Adjective

third-class (not comparable)

  1. Most inferior in quality or standing.
    • Travelling third-class isn't just slow, it's painful.

Forms of third class

Adjective
alternative formthird-class
alternative form3rd-class
alternative form3rd class
Noun
pluralthird classes

Questions about third class

What does third class mean?
Third class means a reduced-rate mail service for printed matter.
What is third class the alternative spelling of?
Third class is the alternative spelling of third-class.
What part of speech is third class?
Third class is a noun.
What is the plural of third class?
The plural of third class is third classes.

Words near third class in the dictionary

  1. third bases
  2. third best
  3. third bests
  4. third camp
  5. third camps
  6. third class
  7. third classes
  8. Third Coast
  9. third conditional
  10. third conditionals
  11. third contact

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: third class (page history and authors); third-class (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “third class.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/third_class. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.