📖 T — The English dictionary · page 57

twiddle — Everyday, meaning 1: To twist, turn or play with something with your fingers, often without thinking: twiddle a knob, twiddle your hair.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: (phrase) «twiddle your thumbs» = to sit doing nothing, waiting, bored.↗ Example: Stop twiddling your hair!↗ · He twiddled the knob to find the station.↗ · We sat twiddling our thumbs while the bus was late.↗ · She twiddled her pencil during the test.↗ · Toad twiddled his thumbs, bored with the river.↗ · Twiddle the dial to set the oven.↗

twig — Everyday, meaning 1: A small, thin branch of a tree or bush.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: (UK, informal verb) To suddenly understand something or realise what is going on.↗ Example: The bird built its nest from twigs and moss.↗ · A twig snapped under his foot in the dark wood.↗ · We collected dry twigs to start the campfire.↗ · The stick insect looked just like a twig.↗ · It took me ages to twig that she was joking.↗ · Did you twig who sent the card?↗ · Count the twigs: there are 4 on each branch and 3 branches, so 12 twigs.↗ · From every twig glistened a white radiance.↗ · And there shall come forth a shoot out of the stock of Jesse, and a twig shall grow forth out of his roots.↗ (Prophets ISA.11.1, JPS 1917)↗ · He cropped off the topmost of the young twigs thereof, and carried it into a land of traffic; he set it in a city of merchants.↗ (Prophets EZK.17.4, JPS 1917)↗

twilight — Everyday, meaning 1: Twilight is the dim light in the sky just after the sun sets, or just before it rises.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: Twilight is the time when this light appears.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: The twilight of something is its last, weaker stage: «the twilight of his life».↗ Example: We walked home in the twilight.↗ · Bats come out at twilight to catch insects.↗ · At twilight the sky turned pink and purple.↗ · Wear something bright if you cycle at twilight.↗ · The old dog was in the twilight of his life.↗ · The garden looked magical in the twilight.↗ · Owls start hunting at twilight.↗ · Here he hid himself and waited for the twilight.↗ · In the twilight, in the evening of the day, in the blackness of night and the darkness.↗ (Writings PRO.7.9, JPS 1917)↗ · My heart is bewildered, terror hath overwhelmed me; the twilight that I longed for hath been turned for me into trembling.↗ (Prophets ISA.21.4, JPS 1917)↗ · The eye also of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight, saying: 'No eye shall see me'; and he putteth a covering on his face.↗ (Writings JOB.24.15, JPS 1917)↗

twill — Everyday, meaning 1: 'Twill is an old short form of «it will», used in fairy tales and old stories.↗ Example: If I must part from him, 'twill break my heart.↗ · 'Twill be to your profit if you agree.↗

twin — Everyday, meaning 1: A twin is one of two children born to the same mother at the same time.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: Twin can mean one of a pair of two things that are the same or very alike.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: In British use, two towns are twinned when they are friends and partners with a town in another country.↗ Example: Emma and Ella are twins.↗ · My twin brother is ten minutes older than me.↗ · Identical twins can look almost exactly the same.↗ · The hotel room had twin beds.↗ · Our town is twinned with a town in France.↗ · The twins are 9, so together their ages add up to 18.↗ · The plane has twin engines.↗ · The first twin came to Peter.↗ “Father, we want to dance.”↗ · All the hangings of the court round about were of fine twined linen.↗ (Torah EXO.38.16, JPS 1917)↗ · And he made the ephod of gold, blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen.↗ (Torah EXO.39.2, JPS 1917)↗ · And they made upon the skirts of the robe pomegranates of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and twined linen.↗ (Torah EXO.39.24, JPS 1917)↗

twine — Everyday, meaning 1: To twine is to wind or wrap something around something else, or to coil round and round.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: (noun) Twine is thin, strong string used for tying parcels.↗ Example: Twine the rope around his neck.↗ · Ivy twines up the old garden wall.↗ · Snakes twined in her hair.↗ · Tie the parcel with a piece of twine.↗

twinkle — Everyday, meaning 1: To twinkle is to shine with a light that flickers, getting brighter and dimmer quickly, as stars do.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: If someone's eyes twinkle, they look bright and happy, often because the person is amused.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: A twinkle is a small flickering light, or a happy, cheeky look in the eyes.↗ Everyday, meaning 4: «In the twinkling of an eye» means very quickly.↗ Example: The stars twinkle in the night sky.↗ · The fairy lights twinkled on the tree.↗ · Grandpa's eyes twinkled when he told the joke.↗ · Planets don't twinkle as much as stars.↗ · We sang «Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star».↗ · The lights of the town twinkled below the hill.↗ · In the twinkling of an eye, the cake was gone.↗ · The king smiled, and his eyes twinkled.↗

twins — Everyday, meaning 1: Twins are two children born to the same mother at the same birth.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: Identical twins come from one egg that splits, so they look almost the same; non-identical (fraternal) twins come from two eggs and may be a boy and a girl.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: Twin (adjective) means one of a matching pair: «twin beds», «twin towers».↗ Everyday, meaning 4: Twin towns or sister cities are towns in different countries that are friends and visit each other.↗ Example: Sam and Lily are twins.↗ · My twin brother was born ten minutes before me.↗ · Identical twins can be hard to tell apart.↗ · The twins have different fingerprints.↗ · We stayed in a room with twin beds.↗ · Our town is twinned with a town in France.↗ · Twins have the same birthday.↗ · “And we are your children,” cried the twins.↗ · And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb.↗ (Torah GEN.25.24, JPS 1917)↗ · And it came to pass in the time of her travail, that, behold, twins were in her womb.↗ (Torah GEN.38.27, JPS 1917)↗ · Thy two breasts are like two fawns that are twins of a gazelle.↗ (Writings SNG.7.4, JPS 1917)↗ · Thy two breasts are like two fawns that are twins of a gazelle, which feed among the lilies.↗ (Writings SNG.4.5, JPS 1917)↗

twirl — Everyday, meaning 1: To twirl is to spin round and round quickly, or to make something spin: she twirled in her new dress.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: To twirl something is to twist it round your finger: he twirled his hair.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: A twirl is a quick spin or turn.↗ Everyday, meaning 4: A twirl is a curly shape or mark, like a loop of icing.↗ Example: She twirled around in her party dress.↗ · He twirled spaghetti on his fork.↗ · The majorette twirled her baton.↗ · Give us a twirl so we can see your costume!↗ · The villain twirled his moustache.↗ · The cake had twirls of chocolate on top.↗ · The dancer did three twirls on one foot.↗ · “Noo, that ain't,” says he, and he twirled his tail.↗

twist — Everyday, meaning 1: To turn something round, like twisting a lid off a jar or twisting a key.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: To bend or wind things around each other, like twisting threads into a rope.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: To hurt a joint by turning it the wrong way: twist your ankle.↗ Everyday, meaning 4: A noun for a sudden change, especially a surprising change in a story: a plot twist.↗ Everyday, meaning 5: A bend or curve, as in the twists and turns of a road.↗ Everyday, meaning 6: To wriggle your body through a narrow gap.↗ Example: Twist the lid to open the jar.↗ · I twisted my ankle playing netball.↗ · The story had a twist at the end: the ghost was the cat.↗ · The path twists through the woods.↗ · Twist the two pipe cleaners together.↗ · She twisted her hair into a bun.↗ · The tornado twisted the trees out of the ground.↗ · Okay, you twisted my arm — I'll have another biscuit.↗ · How was he to twist himself through!↗ · Thou shalt make thee twisted cords upon the four corners of thy covering, wherewith thou coverest thyself.↗ (Torah DEU.22.12, JPS 1917)↗

twisty — Everyday, meaning 1: Twisty means full of twists and bends, like a twisty road or path.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: A twisty story or plot has many surprising turns.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: Describing a crooked, sly or wicked-looking smile.↗ Example: The road up the mountain is very twisty.↗ · Our water slide was long and twisty.↗ · The book had a twisty plot with a surprise ending.↗ · Twisty paths wound through the woods.↗ · She has twisty curls.↗ · The twisty lane made me feel car-sick.↗ · “You are done for, indeed,” said Cuillen, and she smiled a hairy and twisty and fangy smile that almost finished Cona’n.↗

twit — Everyday, meaning 1: (informal, UK, Ireland, Australia, mildly rude) A silly or foolish person.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: (old-fashioned, rare) verb: to tease someone.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: Twit can also be the chirping sound a swallow makes.↗ Example: «You twit, you've put your jumper on inside out!» laughed my sister.↗ · Don't be a twit — wear your helmet.↗ · Mr and Mrs Twit are horrible people in a Roald Dahl book.↗ · I felt like a twit when I forgot my lines.↗ · He's a bit of a twit, but he means well.↗ · Calling someone a twit in class might still get you told off.↗ · The linden-trees were in blossom; while the swallows flew here and there, crying, "Twit, twit, twit, my mate is coming,"--but it was not the fir-tree they meant.↗

twitch — Everyday, meaning 1: To make a small, quick movement that you do not mean to make.↗ e.g. "My eye twitched."↗ Everyday, meaning 2: To move something a little and quickly.↗ e.g. "The rabbit twitched its nose."↗ Everyday, meaning 3: A twitch is such a small quick movement.↗ Example: The rabbit twitched its nose.↗ · My eyelid keeps twitching when I am tired.↗ · The cat's tail twitched as it watched the bird.↗ · The curtain twitched as we walked past.↗ · He felt a twitch in his leg.↗ · The dog's paws twitched while it was dreaming.↗

twitter — Everyday, meaning 1: To twitter is to make a quick, light, chirping sound, as birds do.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: To twitter is to talk fast and in a silly, excited way.↗ Example: The birds twittered in the hedge.↗ · 'Ashes! ashes!' they twittered.↗ · Not even a night bird twittered that night.↗ · The girls twittered about the party.↗

twixt — Early Modern English, meaning 1: Between two things or people.↗ Example: Shame on me if I touch the hand that has come 'twixt me and my own heart's love.”↗ (English Fairy Tales) · Prince Ivan, 'twixt sleeping and waking, waxed very wroth with his tutor, and handed him over entirely to the Princess, saying--↗ (Russian Fairy Tales: A Choice Collection of Muscovite Folk-lore) · Wid dat I des drapt back inter de woods, en sorter skeerted 'roun' so's ter git de tree 'twixt' me en de road.↗ (Uncle Remus, His Songs and His Sayings)

two — Everyday, meaning 1: Two is the number 2, one more than one.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: A two is the digit 2 or a card or die face with 2 on it.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: «In two» means in two pieces.↗ Everyday, meaning 4: (casual) «A couple» often means two, but can mean «a few»; «a sec» or «two ticks» (UK) means a short moment.↗ Everyday, meaning 5: (casual) «Two-faced» means saying one thing and doing another; «my two cents» means my opinion.↗ Everyday, meaning 6: (casual) In texts «2» can mean «to» or «too»: «c u 2morrow», «me 2».↗ Everyday, meaning 7: (formal) Exams say «twofold», «a pair of», «both», «double», «duplicate» or «twain» (old).↗ Example: I place two apples on the table.↗ · Two children share 10 sweets equally.↗ · Mia has two boxes with 6 pens in each.↗ · We have two hands and two feet.↗ · Cut the sandwich in two.↗ · Count in twos: 2, 4, 6, 8.↗ · My little brother is two years old.↗ · Back in two ticks, don't eat my chips.↗ · Oi, you two, shut it and count.↗ · c u 2morrow, bring 2 pens (the first «2» means «to»).↗ · A quantity increases twofold, from 8 to 16.↗ · Both boxes contain 6 pens.↗ · Already there are two too many.↗ · Each board had two tenons, joined one to another.↗ (Torah EXO.36.22, JPS 1917)↗ · And Reu lived two and thirty years, and begot Serug.↗ (Torah GEN.11.20, JPS 1917)↗ · Thus he did to both of them in the two corners.↗ (Torah EXO.36.29, JPS 1917)↗ · The children of Azmaveth, forty and two.↗ (Writings EZR.2.24, JPS 1917)↗ · The children of Nebo, fifty and two.↗ (Writings EZR.2.29, JPS 1917)↗ · The men of Beth-azmaveth, forty and two.↗ (Writings NEH.7.28, JPS 1917)↗