third-party

adjective third-par·ty \ ˈthərd-ˈpär-tē \

|Updated on: 13 Jun 2018

Definition of third-party

1 : of, relating to, or involving a third party

third-party insurance

2 : of, relating to, or being software that is created by a vendor to be compatible with the products of another vendor

See third-party defined for English-language learners

First Known Use of third-party

1901

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

NEW! Time Traveler

third party

noun

Definition of third party

1 : a person other than the principals

a third party to a divorce proceeding

insurance against injury to third parties

2 a : a major political party operating over a limited period of time in addition to two other major parties in a nation or state normally characterized by a two-party system

b : minor party

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Recent Examples of third party from the Web

Blithely ignoring an agreement between two of the parties to form a majority coalition, the state’s governor instead tapped the third party to rule, granting it an unseemly two weeks to cobble together a majority.

— The Economist, "People in India often despair of their democracy," 31 May 2018
Central to the Respect Program is that signatories would be required to enlist some kind of independent third party to file complaints, so models wouldn’t feel forced to report bad behavior to the exact people who sign their paychecks.

— leah bourne, Glamour, "The Model Alliance's New Program Aims to Hold the Fashion Industry Accountable in the Age of #MeToo," 24 May 2018
Court Watch Nola, which criticized the practice in its annual report, denies that third parties can be detected either way.

— Fox News, "Watchdog: Stop recording inmate-attorney phone calls," 22 May 2018
The National Women’s Law Center recommends the inclusion of third parties in harassment policies.

— The Christian Science Monitor, "Legislators work to shift culture in statehouses in wake of #MeToo," 15 May 2018
Supposedly impartial, neutral third parties, making unbiased decisions about matters both grave and frivolous.

— maya dukmasova, Chicago Reader, "Archive Dive / Crime / Criminal Justice That time a Cook County judge ruled on the case of a man he himself put in prison when he was still a prosecutor," 25 May 2018
The family real estate company said the documents were handled by a third party, reviewed by independent counsel and corrected as soon as the problem was identified.

— david kocieniewski and stephanie baker, chicagotribune.com, "Jared Kushner's tech startup seeking at least $100 million from Saudi-backed fund," 22 May 2018
The report also says the city has essentially no policies on allowing private companies -- or any third party – to issue a request for proposals.

— david garrick, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Grand jury says San Diego lost revenue by not negotiating new stadium deals itself," 22 May 2018
That includes determining exposure to third parties, the cost of downtime from a ransomware attack and the amount of consumer data the enterprise handles.

— kate fazzini, WSJ, "Cyber Insurance: Companies Must Weigh Uncertainties in an Unproven Market," 18 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'third party.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.