Twaddle
Twad´dle, v. i. & t. [See Twattle.] To talk in a weak and silly manner, like one whose faculties are decayed; to prate; to prattle. Stanyhurst.
Twain, a. & n. [OE. twein, tweien, tweyne, AS. twegen, masc. See Two.] Two; — nearly obsolete in common discourse, but used in poetry and burlesque. "Children twain." Chaucer.
"And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain." Matt. v. 41.In twain, in halves; into two parts; asunder.
"When old winder split the rocks in twain." Dryden. — Twain cloud. (Meteor.) Same as Cumulo-stratus.
Twaite, n. [Prov. E.] (Zoöl.) A European shad; — called also twaite shad. See Shad.
Twaite, n. (O. Eng. Law) A piece of cleared ground. See Thwaite.
Twang, n. A tang. See Tang a state. [R.]
Twang, v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Twanged p. pr. & vb. n. Twanging.] [Of imitative origin; cf. Tang a sharp sound, Tinkle.] To sound with a quick, harsh noise; to make the sound of a tense string pulled and suddenly let go; as the bowstring twanged.
Twank, v. t. To cause to make a sharp twanging sound; to twang, or twangle. Addison.
Twankay
Twan´kay, n. See Note under Tea, n. , 1.
Twattle
Twat´tle, v. i. [Cf. Tattle, Twaddle.] To prate; to talk much and idly; to gabble; to chatter; to twaddle; as a twattling gossip. L’Estrange.
Twattle
Twat´tle, v. t. To make much of, as a domestic animal; to pet. [Prov. Eng.] Grose.
Tway, a. & n. [OE. twei. See Twain.] Two; twain. [Obs.] Spenser.
Tweak, v. t. [OE. twikken, originally the same word as twicchen; cf. LG. twikken. See Twitch.] To pinch and pull with a sudden jerk and twist; to twitch; as to tweak the nose. Shak.
Tweed, n. [Probably a corruption of twills. See Twill.] A soft and flexible fabric for men’s wear, made wholly of wool except in some inferior kinds, the wool being dyed, usually in two colors, before weaving.
Tweedle
Twee´dle, v. t. [Cf. Twiddle.] [Written also twidle.]
1. To handle lightly; — said with reference to awkward fiddling; hence, to influence as if by fiddling; to coax; to allure.
"A fiddler brought in with him a body of lusty young fellows, whom he had tweedled into the service." Addison.
2. To twist. [Prov. Eng.] Halliwell.
Tweer, n. Same as Tuyère. { Tweese, Tweeze }, n. [OE. tweeze, tweese, fr. F. etuis, pl. of etui a case, sheath, box; probably of Teutonic origin; cf. MNG. stuche a wide sleeve in which articles could be carried, OHG. stuhha, G. stauche a short and narrow muff. Cf Etui, Tweezers.] A surgeon’s case of instruments. Howell.
Tweezers
Twee´zers, n. pl. [See Tweese.] Small pinchers used to pluck out hairs, and for other purposes.
Twelfth, a. [For twelft, OE. twelfte, AS. twelfta. See Twelve.]
1. Next in order after the eleventh; coming after eleven others; — the ordinal of twelve.
2. Consisting, or being one of, twelve equal parts into which anything is divided.
Twelfthtide
Twelfth´tide, n. The twelfth day after Christmas; Epiphany; — called also Twelfth-day.
Twelve, a. [OE. twelve, twelf, AS. twelf; akin to OFries. twelf, twelef, twilif, OS. twelif, D. twaalf, G. zwölf, OHG. zwelif, Icel. tlf, Sw. tolf, Dan. tolv, Goth. twalif, from the root of E. two + the same element as in the second part of E. eleven. See Two, and Eleven.] One more that eleven; two and ten; twice six; a dozen. Twelve-men’s morris. See the Note under Morris. — Twelve Tables. (Rom. Antiq.) See under Table.
Twelvepence
Twelve´pence, n. A shilling sterling, being about twenty-four cents.
Twelvepenny
Twelve´pen•ny, a. Sold for a shilling; worth or costing a shilling.
Twelvescore
Twelve´score, n. & a. Twelve times twenty; two hundred and forty.
Twentieth
Twen´ti•eth, a. [From Twenty; cf. AS. twentigoa. See Twenty.]
1. Next in order after the nineteenth; tenth after the tenth; coming after nineteen others; — the ordinal of twenty.
2. Consisting, or being, one of twenty equal parts into which anything is divided.
Twenty
Twen´ty, a. [OE. twenty, AS. twntig, twentig; akin to OFris. twintich, OS. twntig, D. & LG. twintig, OHG. zweinzug, G. zwanzig, Goth. twai tigjis; that is, two tens. See Twain, Two, and Ten.]
1. One more that nineteen; twice; as twenty men.
2. An indefinite number more or less that twenty. Shak.
"Maximilian, upon twenty respects, could not have been the man." Bacon.
Twey, a. [See Two.] Two. [Obs.] Chaucer.
Twibil
Twi´bil, n. [AS. twibill; twi- (in comp.) two + bill, bil, an ax hoe, bill. See Twice, and Bill a cutting instrument.]
1. A kind of mattock, or ax; esp., a tool like a pickax, but having, instead of the points, flat terminations, one of which is parallel to the handle, the other perpendicular to it. [Prov. Eng.]
2. A tool for making mortises. [Obs.]
3. A reaping hook.
Twibilled
Twi´billed, a. Armed or provided with a twibil or twibils.
Twice, adv. [OE. twies (where the s is the adverbial ending; see -wards), twie, AS. twiges, twiwa; akin to twi- (in comp.) two, G. zwie-, OHG. zwi-, Icel. tvi-, L. bi-, Gr., Skr. dvi-, and E. two. See Two.]
1. Two times; once and again.
"He twice essayed to cast his son in gold." Dryden.
2. Doubly; in twofold quantity or degree; as twice the sum; he is twice as fortunate as his neighbor. Twice is used in the formation of compounds, mostly self- explaining; as twice-horn, twice-conquered, twice- planted, twice-told, and the like.
Twiddle
Twid´dle, v. t. [Probably of imitative origin. Cf. Tweedle.] To touch lightly, or play with; to tweedle; to twirl; as to twiddle one’s thumbs; to twiddle a watch key. [Written also twidle.] Thackeray.
Twiddle
Twid´dle, v. i. To play with anything; hence, to be busy about trifles. Halliwell.
Twiddle
Twid´dle, n.
1. A slight twist with the fingers.
2. A pimple. [Prov. Eng.] Halliwell.
Twifallow
Twi´fal•low, v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Twifallowed p. pr. & vb. n. Twifallowing.] [AS. twi- (see Twice) two + fallow.] To plow, or fallow, a second time (land that has been once fallowed).
Twifold
Twi´fold, a. [AS. twifeadld. See Twice, and cf. Twofold.] Twofold; double. [Obs.]
Twig, v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Twigged p. pr. & vb. n. Twigging.] [Cf. Tweak.] To twitch; to pull; to tweak. [Obs. or Scot.]
Twig, n. [AS. twig; akin to D. twijg, OHG. zwig, zwi, G. zweig, and probably to E. two.] A small shoot or branch of a tree or other plant, of no definite length or size.
"The Britons had boats made of willow twigs, covered on the outside with hides." Sir T. Raleigh.Twig borer (Zoöl.), any one of several species of small beetles which bore into twigs of shrubs and trees, as the apple-tree twig borer ( Amphicerus bicaudatus). — Twig girdler. (Zoöl.) See Girdler, 3. — Twig rush (Bot.), any rushlike plant of the genus Cladium having hard, and sometimes prickly-edged, leaves or stalks. See Saw grass, under Saw.
Twight, v. t. To twit. [Obs.] Spenser.
Twight, obs. p. p. of Twitch. Chaucer.
Twighte
Twight´e, obs. imp. of Twitch. Chaucer.
Twigsome
Twig´some, a. Full of, or abounding in, twigs; twiggy. [R.] " Twigsome trees." Dickens.
Twilight
Twi´light, n. [OE. twilight, AS. twi- (see Twice) + leóht light; hence the sense of doubtful or half light; cf. LG. twelecht, G. zwielicht. See Light.]
1. The light perceived before the rising, and after the setting, of the sun, or when the sun is less than 18° below the horizon, occasioned by the illumination of the earth’s atmosphere by the direct rays of the sun and their reflection on the earth.
2. faint light; a dubious or uncertain medium through which anything is viewed.
"As when the sun … from behind the moon,
In dim eclipse, disastrous twilight sheds." Milton.
"The twilight of probability." Locke.
Twill, v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Twilled p. pr. & vb. n. Twilling.] [Scotch tweel; probably from LG. twillen to make double, from twi- two; akin to AS. twi-, E. twi- in twilight. See Twice, and cf. Tweed, Tweel.] To weave, as cloth, so as to produce the appearance of diagonal lines or ribs on the surface.
Twill, n. [Scotch tweel. See Twill, v. t.]
1. An appearance of diagonal lines or ribs produced in textile fabrics by causing the weft threads to pass over one and under two, or over one and under three or more, warp threads, instead of over one and under the next in regular succession, as in plain weaving.
2. A fabric women with a twill.
3. [Perhaps fr. guill.] A quill, or spool, for yarn.
Twilly
Twil´ly, n. [C. Willy.] A machine for cleansing or loosening wool by the action of a revolving cylinder covered with long iron spikes or teeth; a willy or willying machine; — called also twilly devil, and devil. See Devil, n. , 6, and Willy. Tomlinson.
Twilt, n. [See Quilt.] A quilt. [Prov. Eng.]
Twin, a. [OE. twin double, AS. getwinne two and two, pl., twins; akin to D. tweeling a twin, G. zwilling, OHG. zwiniling, Icel. tvennr, tvinnr, two and two, twin, and to AS. twi- two. See Twice, Two.]
1. Being one of two born at a birth; as a twin brother or sister.
2. Being one of a pair much resembling one another; standing the relation of a twin to something else; — often followed by to or with. Shak.
3. (Bot.) Double; consisting of two similar and corresponding parts.
4. (Crystallog.) Composed of parts united according to some definite law of twinning. See Twin, n. , 4. Twin boat, or Twin ship (Naut.), a vessel whose deck and upper works rest on two parallel hulls. — Twin crystal. See Twin, n. , 4. — Twin flower (Bot.), a delicate evergreen plant ( Linnaea borealis) of northern climates, which has pretty, fragrant, pendulous flowers borne in pairs on a slender stalk. — Twin-screw steamer, a steam vessel propelled by two screws, one on either side of the plane of the keel.
Twin, n.
1. One of two produced at a birth, especially by an animal that ordinarily brings forth but one at a birth; — used chiefly in the plural, and applied to the young of beasts as well as to human young.
2. pl. (Astron.) A sign and constellation of the zodiac; Gemini. See Gemini.
3. A person or thing that closely resembles another.
4. (Crystallog.) A compound crystal composed of two or more crystals, or parts of crystals, in reversed position with reference to each other. The relative position of the parts of a twin may be explained by supposing one part to be revolved 180° about a certain axis (called the twinning axis), this axis being normal to a plane (called the twinning plane) which is usually one of the fundamental planes of the crystal. This revolution brings the two parts into parallel position, or vice versa. A contact twin is one in which the parts are united by a plane surface, called the composition face, which is usually the same as the twinning plane. A penetration twin is one in which the parts interpenetrate each other, often very irregularly. Twins are also called, according to form, cruciform, geniculated, etc.
Twin, v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Twinned p. pr. & vb. n. Twinning.]
1. To bring forth twins. Tusser.
2. To be born at the same birth. Shak.
Twin, v. i. To depart from a place or thing. [Obs.] "Ere that we farther twin." Chaucer.
Twine, n. [AS. twin, properly, a twisted or double thread; akin to D. twijn, Icel. twinni; from twi-. See Twice, and cf. Twin.]
1. A twist; a convolution.
"Typhon huge, ending in snaky twine." Milton.
2. A strong thread composed of two or three smaller threads or strands twisted together, and used for various purposes, as for binding small parcels, making nets, and the like; a small cord or string.
3. The act of twining or winding round. J. Philips.Twine reeler, a kind of machine for twisting twine; a kind of mule, or spinning machine.
Twine, v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Twined p. pr. & vb. n. Twining.] [OE. twinen, fr. AS. twin a twisted thread; akin to D. twijnen to twine, Icel. & Sw. tvinna, Dan. tvinde. See Twine, n. ]
1. To twist together; to form by twisting or winding of threads; to wreathe; as fine twined linen.
2. To wind, as one thread around another, or as any flexible substance around another body.
"Let me twine
Mine arms about that body." Shak.
3. To wind about; to embrace; to entwine.
"Let wreaths of triumph now my temples twine." Pope.
4. To change the direction of. [Obs.] Fairfax.
5. To mingle; to mix. [Obs.] Crashaw.
Twiner
Twin´er, n. (Bot.) Any plant which twines about a support.
Twinge, v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Twinged p. pr. & vb. n. Twinging.] [OE. twengen, AS. twengan; akin to OE. twingen to pain, afflict, OFries. thwinga, twinga, dwinga, to constrain, D. dwingen, OS. thwingan, G. zwingen, OHG. dwingan, thwingan, to press, oppress, overcome, Icel. þvinga, Sw. tvinga to subdue, constrain, Dan. twinge, and AS. þün to press, OHG. duhen, and probably to E. thong. Perhaps influenced by twitch. Cf. Thong.]
1. To pull with a twitch; to pinch; to tweak.
"When a man is past his sense,
There’s no way to reduce him thence,
But twinging him by the ears or nose,
Or laying on of heavy blows." Hudibras.
2. To affect with a sharp, sudden pain; to torment with pinching or sharp pains.
"The gnat … twinged him [the lion] till he made him tear
himself, and so mastered him." L’Estrange.
Twining
Twin´ing, a. The act of one who, or that which, twines; (Bot.) the act of climbing spirally.
Twink, v. i. [OE. twinken. See Twinkle.] To twinkle. [Obs.]
Twink, n.
1. A wink; a twinkling. [Obs.]
2. (Zoöl.) The chaffinch. [Prov. Eng.]
Twinkle
Twin´kle, v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Twinkled p. pr. & vb. n. Twinkling ] [OE. twinklen, AS. twinclian; akin to OE. twinken to blink, wink, G. zwinken, zwinkern, and perhaps to E. twitch.]
1. To open and shut the eye rapidly; to blink; to wink.
"The owl fell a moping and twinkling." L’ Estrange.
2. To shine with an intermitted or a broken, quavering light; to flash at intervals; to sparkle; to scintillate.
"These stars not twinkle when viewed through telescopes that have large apertures." Sir I. Newton.
"The western sky twinkled with stars." Sir W. Scott.
Twinkler
Twin´kler, n. One who, or that which, twinkles, or winks; a winker; an eye.
Twinlike
Twin´like, a. Closely resembling; being a counterpart. — Twin´like•ness, n.
Twinling
Twin´ling, n. [ Twin + 1st - ling.] A young or little twin, especially a twin lamb.
Twinned, a. (Crystallog.) Composed of parts united according to a law of twinning. See Twin, n. , 4.
Twinner
Twin´ner, n. One who gives birth to twins; a breeder of twins. Tusser.
Twinning
Twin´ning, n. (Crystallog.) The assemblage of two or more crystals, or parts of crystals, in reversed position with reference to each other in accordance with some definite law; also rarely, in artificial twinning (accomplished for example by pressure), the process by which this reversal is brought about. Polysynthetic twinning, repeated twinning of crystal lamellae, as that of the triclinic feldspars. — Repeated twinning, twinning of more than two crystals, or parts of crystals. — Twinning axis, Twinning plane. See the Note under Twin, n.
Twinter
Twin´ter, n. [AS. twi- + winter winter. See Twice, and Winter.] A domestic animal two winters old. [Prov. Eng.]
Twire, n. [Cf. D. tweern, G. zwirn, and E. twine.] A twisted filament; a thread. [Obs.] Locke.
Twirl, v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Twirled p. pr. & vb. n. Twirling.] [Cf. AS. þwiril a churn staff, a stirrer, flail, þweran, aþweran, to agitate, twirl, G. zwirlen, quirlen, to twirl, to turn round or about, quirl a twirling stick, OHG. dweran to twirl, stir. Cf. Trowel.] To move or turn round rapidly; to whirl round; to move and turn rapidly with the fingers.
"See ruddy maids,
Some taught with dexterous hand to twirl the wheel." Dodsley.
"No more beneath soft eve’s consenting star
Fandango twirls his jocund castanet." Byron.
Twirl, v. i. To revolve with velocity; to be whirled round rapidly.
Twist, v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Twisted; p. pr. & vb. n. Twisting.] [OE. twisten, AS. twist a rope, as made of two (twisted) strands, fr. twi- two; akin to D. twist a quarrel, dissension, G. zwist, Dan. & Sw. tvist, Icel. twistr the deuce in cards, tvistr distressed. See Twice, Two.]
1. To contort; to writhe; to complicate; to crook spirally; to convolve.
"Twist it into a serpentine form." Pope.
2. Hence, to turn from the true form or meaning; to pervert; as to twist a passage cited from an author.
3. To distort, as a solid body, by turning one part relatively to another about an axis passing through both; to subject to torsion; as to twist a shaft.
4. To wreathe; to wind; to encircle; to unite by intertexture of parts. "Longing to twist bays with that ivy." Waller.
"There are pillars of smoke twisted about wreaths of flame." T. Burnet.
5. To wind into; to insinuate; — used reflexively; as avarice twists itself into all human concerns.
6. To unite by winding one thread, strand, or other flexible substance, round another; to form by convolution, or winding separate things round each other; as to twist yarn or thread. Shak.
7. Hence, to form as if by winding one part around another; to wreathe; to make up.
"Was it not to this end
That thou began’st to twist so fine a story?" Shak.
8. To form into a thread from many fine filaments; as to twist wool or cotton.
Twist, n.
1. The act of twisting; a contortion; a flexure; a convolution; a bending.
"Not the least turn or twist in the fibers of any one animal which does not render them more proper for that particular animal’s way of life than any other cast or texture." Addison.
2. The form given in twisting.
"[He] shrunk at first sight of it; he found fault with the length, the thickness, and the twist." Arbuthnot.
3. That which is formed by twisting, convoluting, or uniting parts. Specifically: — (a) A cord, thread, or anything flexible, formed by winding strands or separate things round each other. (b) A kind of closely twisted, strong sewing silk, used by tailors, saddlers, and the like. (c) A kind of cotton yarn, of several varieties. (d) A roll of twisted dough, baked. (e) A little twisted roll of tobacco. (f) (Weaving) One of the threads of a warp, — usually more tightly twisted than the filling. (g) (Firearms) A material for gun barrels, consisting of iron and steel twisted and welded together; as Damascus twist. (h) (Firearms & Ord.) The spiral course of the rifling of a gun barrel or a cannon. (i) A beverage made of brandy and gin. [Slang]
4. [OE.; — so called as being a two-forked branch. See Twist, v. t.] A twig. [Obs.] Chaucer. Fairfax.Gain twist, or Gaining twist (Firearms), twist of which the pitch is less, and the inclination greater, at the muzzle than at the breech. — Twist drill, a drill the body of which is twisted like that of an auger. See Illust. of Drill. — Uniform twist (Firearms), a twist of which the spiral course has an equal pitch throughout.
Twiste
Twist´e, obs. imp. of Twist. Chaucer.
Twisted
Twist´ed, a. Contorted; crooked spirally; subjected to torsion; hence, perverted. Twisted curve (Geom.), a curve of double curvature. See Plane curve, under Curve. — Twisted surface (Geom.), a surface described by a straight line moving according to any law whatever, yet so that the consecutive positions of the line shall not be in one plane; a warped surface.
Twisting
Twist´ing, a. & n. from Twist. Twisting pair. (Kinematics) See under Pair, n. , 7.
Twit, v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Twitted; p. pr. & vb. n. Twitting.] [OE. atwiten, AS. aetwitan to reproach, blame; aet at + witan to reproach, blame; originally, to observe, see, hence, to observe what is wrong (cf. the meanings of E. animadvert; akin to G. ver weisen to censure, OHG. fir wizan, Goth. tra weitan to avenge, L. videre to see. See Vision, Wit.] To vex by bringing to notice, or reminding of, a fault, defect, misfortune, or the like; to revile; to reproach; to upbraid; to taunt; as he twitted his friend of falsehood.
"This these scoffers twitted the Christian with." Tillotson.
"AEsop minds men of their errors, without twitting them for what is amiss." L’Estrange.
Twitch, v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Twitched p. pr. & vb. n. Twitching.] [OE. twicchen, fr. (doubtful) AS. twiccian; akin to AS. angel twicca a worm used for bait, literally, a hook twitcher, LG. twikken to tweak, G. zwicken. Cf. Tweak.] To pull with a sudden jerk; to pluck with a short, quick motion; to snatch; as to twitch one by the sleeve; to twitch a thing out of another’s hand; to twitch off clusters of grapes.
"Thrice they twitched the diamond in her ear." Pope.
Twitlark
Twit´lark, n. (Zoöl.) The meadow pipit. [Prov. Eng.]
Twitter
Twit´ter, n. [From Twit.] One who twits, or reproaches; an upbraider.
Twitter
Twit´ter, v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Twittered p. pr. & vb. n. Twittering.] [OE. twiteren; of imitative origin; cf. G. zwitschern, OHG. zwizzirn, D. kwetteren, Sw. qwitra, Dan. quiddre. Cf. Titter.]
1. To make a succession of small, tremulous, intermitted noises.
"The swallow twittering from the straw-built shed." Gray.
2. To make the sound of a half-suppressed laugh; to titter; to giggle. J. Fletcher.
3. [Perhaps influenced by twitch.] To have a slight trembling of the nerves; to be excited or agitated.
Twittingly
Twit´ting•ly, adv. In a twitting manner; with upbraiding.
Twittle-twattle
Twit´tle-twat•tle, n. [See Twattle.] Tattle; gabble. L’Estrange.
Two (too), a. [OE. two, twa, properly fem. & neut., twei, twein, tweien, properly masc. (whence E. twain), AS. twa, fem. & neut., twegen, masc., tu, neut.; akin to OFries. twene, masc., twa, fem. & neut., OS. twene, masc., twa, fem., twe, neut., D. twee, OHG. zwene, zwo, zwei, G. zwei, Icel. tveir, tvaer, tvau, Sw. två, Dan. to, Goth. twai, twos, twa; Lith. du, Russ. dva, Ir. & Gael. da, W. dau, dwy, L. duo, Gr. dy•o, Skr. dva. rad.300. Cf. Balance, Barouche, Between, Bi-, Combine, Deuce two in cards, Double, Doubt, Dozen, Dual, Duet, Dyad, Twain, Twelve, Twenty, Twice, Twilight, Twig, Twine, n. , Twist.] One and one; twice one. "Two great lights." Gen. i. 16. "Two black clouds." Milton. Two is often joined with other words, forming compounds signifying divided into, consisting of, or having, two parts, divisions, organs, or the like; as two-bladed, two-celled, two-eared, two- flowered, twohand, two-headed, two-horse, two- leafed or two-leaved, two-legged, two-lobed, two-masted, two-named, two-part, two-petaled, two-pronged, two-seeded, two-sided, two-story, two-stringed, two-foothed, two-valved, two- winged, and the like. One or two, a phrase often used indefinitely for a small number.
Two-capsuled
Two´-cap•suled, a. (Bot.) Having two distinct capsules; bicapsular.
Two-decker
Two´-deck•er, n. A vessel of war carrying guns on two decks.
Two-edged
Two´-edged, a. Having two edges, or edges on both sides; as a two-edged sword.
Twofold
Two´fold, a. [Cf. Twifold.] Double; duplicate; multiplied by two; as a twofold nature; a twofold sense; a twofold argument.
Two-foot
Two´-foot, a. Measuring two feet; two feet long, thick, or wide; as a two-foot rule.
Two-forked
Two´-forked, a. Divided into two parts, somewhat after the manner of a fork; dichotomous.
Two-hand
Two´-hand, a. Employing two hands; as the two-hand alphabet. See Dactylology.
Two-phase
Two´-phase, a. , Two"- phas•er, n. (Elec.) Same as Diphase, Diphaser.
Two-tongued
Two´-tongued, a. Double-tongued; deceitful. Sandys.