trifecta

noun

1. (Australia, New-Zealand, US)A bet in which the bettor must select the first three placegetters of a race in the order in which they finish.

   “The conservative player will play the exacta box bet and the occasional trifecta box wager.”

   “In a trifecta, you must wager on three horses: the one that finishes first (win), the one that finishes second (place), and the one that finishes third (show) in order.”

2. (Australia, New-Zealand, US, figuratively)The attainment of three important achievements, qualities, etc.

   “The money picture for Santorum could change after his trifecta win in Colorado, Minnesota, and Missouri Tuesday night.”

   “At the same time, he said, it could be that Mr. Netanyahu is “seeking a trifecta” with the strikes on Monday: pushing Hamas to give in, showing the Israeli public that he did hit Rafah as promised and getting credit from the Biden administration for not mounting the full-scale assault that Washington fears would result in a civilian catastrophe.”

3. (Australia, New-Zealand, US, broadly)A set of three related things, often things that cause problems.

   “Along with runtime errors, two other errors we saw earlier round out the JavaScript bug trifecta: syntax errors, logic errors, and runtime errors.”

   “I might never have learned my name or met my birth family if I hadn't ended up in the hospital in Rhode Island in 2007, after traveling to a trifecta of malaria hotspots: Mali, Egypt and Colombia.”

   “And the Amy Schumer, Wanda Sykes, and Regina Hall trifecta stumbled through inconsistent chemistry as they, too, attempted to insult their peers.”

4. (Australia, New-Zealand, US)The complete legislative and executive control of state or federal government by one party: governorship, the upper house, and the lower house of state or federal legislatures.

   “In fact, there are about a dozen states, including California, Massachusetts, Washington, and Illinois, where Democrats have won the trifecta—they control the governor's seat as well as both houses of the state legislature.”

   “It’s not just Florida, of course. Republican trifectas in states across the country have introduced and passed dozens of bills aimed at the public existence of trans and other gender-nonconforming people.”