between, prep. and adv.
(bɪtˈwiːn)
Forms: α. 1 bi-, betweonum, -an, -twinum, -an, -twynum, -an, 2–3 bitweone(n, -twene(n, bitwine, 3 bitweounen, 3–4 bituene, 4 bituine, bytwyne, betwene. β. 1 bi-, betwion, -tuien, bitwien, -twen, -twin, betweon, 2 bitweon, -twon, 2–3 bitwien, 3–4 bitwen, -tuen, (bitwhen, beþwen). α. β. (4–5 betweyn(e), 4–6 bi-, betwen(e, (5 bytwyen, betwyn), 5–7 betweene, 6– between.
[The modern between combines two earlier forms: α. OE. bi-, betwéonum, etc., ME. bitwenen, -twene; β. OE. bi-, betwéon, etc., ME. bitwēn; see be-. In betwéonum, Mercian betw{iacu}num, the second element represents an original OE. dative *twîhnum, *tweohnum. In betwéon (only a northern form, Rushworth Gosp. bi-, betwion, betweon, Lindisf. bi-, betuien, bitwén, Durh. Ritual bitwien, -twén, -tw{iacu}n), the second element points back, according to Sievers, through earlier *twîhen, *twîhon, to an orig. OE. acc. twîhn (cf. bituichn in Erfurt Gloss.). These, *twîhnum, *twîhn, answer respectively to Goth. tweihnaim dat. pl., and tweihna acc. pl. neuter, of the distributive numeral tweih-nai ‘two each’, a derivative of twa two n. (= L. bī-nī, for *dvī-nī ‘two each’), which appears also, but with the simple sense of ‘two’ (nom. masc.), in OS. and OFris. twêne, OHG., MHG. zwêne (early mod.G. zween). Betwéonum, later betwéonan, gave the prevailing ME. form bitwenen, reduced before a consonant, and at length generally, to bitwene; bitwen was mostly northern. But after 1400, when final -e became mute, and was omitted in writing, or retained only as a sign of a preceding long vowel, both forms necessarily coalesced in betwene (= betwēn), whence mod. between. In OE. the original construction was bi sǽm twéonum, lit. ‘by seas twain’; thence through constructions like frið freondum bi twéon ‘peace friends between,’ bi twéonum, bi twéon coalesced into prepositions. (Cf. the history of to(us)-ward, to-ward, toward.)
Intimately related to between, alike in their elements, and in the process by which these coalesced, are its synonyms betwixt, in ME. betwix, and † betwixen, † bitwih, † bitwihen, † bitweies. Bitwih was actually, in its origin, a doublet of OE. betwéon, and betwihen an expansion of that, on the analogy of betweonen. Betwixen and betwix were a parallel pair, formed on the OTeut. adj. twiski- ‘two-fold’. (See Sievers Misc. zur Ags. Gram. §329.) Bitwih died a 1100, bitwihen a 1300, betwixen a 1500; betwixt is now archaic, between is the living word.]
¶ Instances of the original construction:
| Beowulf 1720 Suð ne norð be sǽm tweonum. 971 Blickl. Hom. 139 And hie [Peter and Paul] ᵹesawon be him tweonum þæt heo wæs ᵹewuldrod. Ibid. 143 Heo bið swiþor ᵹestrangod be us tweonum þurh Drihtnes gehát. |
A. prep.
I. Of simple position.
* Of a point.
1. The proper word expressing the local relation of a point to two other points in opposite directions from it (i.e. if a point has two other points on opposite sides of it, it is said to be between them): In the space which separates two points; in the direct line which joins two points; hence, in any line of communication which passes from one point, place, or object, to another.
| c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 171 Noðer on heuene · ne on eorðe · ac bitwien two · on þe wolcne. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 760 An oðer alter Abram made bi-twen Betel and Ai. 1297 R. Glouc. 371 At þere hii gonne abyde Bytuene þe water of Trente & of Ouse. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De. P.R. viii. xxiii. (1495) 335 Mystes other clowdes sette bytwene hym and the syghte. 1535 Coverdale Gen. xiii. 3 The place where his tent was at y⊇ first, betwene Bethel and Ay [ælfric, betwux; Wyclif, bytwix, bitwixe]. 1592 Shakes. Ven. & Ad. 194, I lie between that sun and thee. 1667 Milton P.L. i. 387 Jehovah..thron'd Between the Cherubim. 1838 Arnold Hist. Rome (1845) I. xxiv. 517 They..established themselves between the Danube and Greece. Mod. Any station on the Inner Circle Railway between Gower Street and The Temple. |
2. fig. Used of a similar relation to two immaterial objects figured as lying in space; or of a relation, figured as spatial, to two material objects.
| c 1325 E.E. Allit. P. A. 140 A deuyse Bytwene myrþez by merez made. a 1400 Cursor M. 723 (Trin.) Now mon is sett bitwene [v.r. bituix] two, On eiþer side he haþ a fo, Bitwene sathan & his wif. 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. i. ii. iii. x, Thus between hope and fear, suspicions, angers..we bangle away our best days. 1641 J. Jackson True Evang. T. iii. 200 While these Sermons were betweene the Pulpit, and the Presse. 1742 H. Walpole Lett. (1857) I. 128 To hold the balance between liberty and prerogative. c 1815 Jane Austen Northang. Abb. (1848) 168 The General, between his cocoa and his newspaper, had luckily no leisure for noticing her. 1826 Disraeli Viv. Grey iii. iv. 102 Between astonishment and fear the lady was tearless. Mod. The choice lies between the two last-named applicants. |
b. In many phrases, which see under the substantives concerned: e.g. † between the beetle and the block; between the cup and the lip; between the devil and the Dead (or deep) Sea. between wind and water: along the line where anything is submerged in water or in damp soil, esp. on the load-line of a ship, which, as the vessel tosses, is alternately above and below the water's surface.
| 1580 Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 471 Manye thinges fall betweene the cup and the lippe. 1613 Hayward Norm. Kings 274 Earle William being thus set as it were betweene the beetle and the block—was nothing deiected. 1627 Capt. Smith Seaman's Gram. xiii. 60 Wee are shot thorow and thorow, and betweene wind and water. 1642 Rogers Naaman 22 Nothing shall come betweene cup and lip to defeat thee. 1692 Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) II. 637 Having received a shot between wind and water, [she was] forced to lye by to stop her leake. Mod. An oaken gate-post always decays between wind and water. |
3. Of time: In the interval following one event or point of time and preceding another.
| c 1131 O.E. Chron. an. 1124 Betwconen Cristes messe and Candel-mæsse. c 1205 Lay. 24274 Bitwene þis and domes⁓dæi. c 1330 Amis & Amil. 992 He cam bitven the day and the night. c 1485 Digby Myst., Mor. Wisd. (1882) 167 And at the paroyse I wyll be..be-twyn two and three. 1601 Shakes. Jul. C. ii. i. 63 Betweene the acting of a dreadfull thing And the first motion, all the interim is Like a phantasma. 1790 Boswell Johnson (1826) I. 321 Between one and two in the morning. 1848 Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. 51 The nine months which elapsed between the death of Charles and the commencement of the viceroyalty of Clarendon. |
b. between hands (Sc.): in the intervals of regular occupation; also = betweenwhiles.
| c 1817 Hogg Tales & Sk. II. 222 Always, between hands, thanked Heaven for her health. 1881 J. Younger Autobiog. vi. 54 Retiring to sit and work between hands. |
4. Of the relation of a number, quantity, degree, or quality to two others above and below it, or differing from it in opposite ways; Intermediate to.
| 1711 Steele Spect. No. 49 ¶3 Persons..such as are between these two sorts of Men. 1711 Addison Ibid. No. 108 ¶3 He is now between Forty and Fifty. 1712 Parnell Ibid. No. 501 ¶6 Rivulets that had a colour between red and black. 1816 Jane Austen Emma (1849) 123 The atmosphere in that unsettled state between frost and thaw. 1838 Arnold Hist. Rome (1845) I. iii. 33 Between five and six miles from the city. 1885 Law Rep. XV. Q. Bench Div. 170 To the value of between 30,000l. and 40,000l. |
** Of a line of motion.
5. Expressing the relation that motion along a line bears to two points on opposite sides of it; as, ‘to steer between Scylla and Charybdis.’
| c 1205 Lay. 20948 Swa heo liðen æfter sæ..swa longe Þat heo commen bitwiȝe ænglelonde & Normandie. 1535 Coverdale Josh. xviii. 11 The border of their lot wente out betwene the children of Iuda and the children of Ioseph. 1590 Shakes. Com. Err. iii. ii. 132 The salt rheume that ranne betweene France and it. 1799 Southey Ebb Tide Lyr. Poems II. 193 Yet little way they made, though labouring long Between thy winding shores. 1812 Byron Ch. Har. i. xxxiii, But these between a silver streamlet glides. 1864 Tennyson Brook 28 By thirty hills I hurry down Or slip between the ridges. |
II. Of intervening space.
* As separating or connecting.
6. Expressing the relation of the continuous space, or distance, which extends from one point to another, and separates them, or of a line which passes from one to the other and unites them.
| c 1205 Lay. 30017 Nas heom bi-tweounen buten bare twa milen. 1790 Burns Tam O'Shanter 9 We think na on the lang Scots miles That lie between us and our hame. 1858 Sears Athan. iii. 280 The vast distance between heaven and hell. 1884 Manch. Exam. 19 Mar. 4/7 A scheme was mooted..for a plateway between Liverpool and Manchester. Mod. To stretch a rope between the two rafters. |
7. Used in reference to any objective relation uniting two (or more) parties, and holding them in a certain connexion.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 3338 Þe mariage þan did he make, Bi⁓tuene Rebecca and ysaac. 1690 Locke Hum. Und. (1777) II. 150 A vital union between the soul and body. 1758 Johnson Idler No. 12 ¶4 A marriage celebrated between Mr. Buckram..and Miss Dolly Juniper. 1815 Scribbleomania 197 The close alliance which has lately existed between this country and the Peninsula. 1848 Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 123 A coalition was formed between the Royalists and a large body of Presbyterians. |
8. Used with the subjective relations of difference, diversity, likeness, equality, proportion, comparison.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 70 Ancre & huses lefdi ouh muche to beon bitweonen. 1340 Ayenb. 210 Zwych difference ase þer is be-tuene þe cheue and þe corn. 1530 Palsgr. Introd. 43 Dyvers other sortes of phrasys betwene our tong and theyrs. 1692 E. Walker Epictetus' Mor., Life, Bear and Forbear, Words which in Greek have a peculiar Elegance, there being but the Difference of a single Letter between them. 1785 Paley M. Philos. iii. iii. ix, There is no comparison between a fortune which a man acquires by well-applied industry, and one..received from another. 1802 M. Edgeworth Moral T. (1816) I. i. 1 Inequality between the rich and the poor. 1837 Newman Par. Serm. (ed. 2) III. xx. 327 Is there no difference between a chance and a certainty? |
** Of motion across intervening space.
9. Expressing motion or communication from one body or place to another.
| 1598 Shakes. Merry W. ii. ii. 130 You must send her your Page..hee may come and goe betweene you both. 1629 Massinger Emperor of E. i. ii, You are..the go-between This female and that wanton sir. 1696 Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) IV. 142 All clipt money shal goe between man and man at 5s. 2d. per ounce. 1712 Steele Spect. No. 263 ¶5 Two Letters which passed between a Mother and Son lately. 1812 Jane Austen Pride & Prej. (1846) 301 Not a word passed between the sisters concerning Bingley. Mod. Newspaper. Carried backwards and forwards between the police station and the workhouse. Tenders for carrying the mails between Great Britain and New Zealand. |
10. Expressing reciprocal action or relation maintained, by two (or more) agents towards each other.
| 971 Blickl. Hom. 221 Swylce ða ᵹesceafta twá him be⁓tweonan ᵹefeohtan sceoldan. 1038–50 Chart. Godwine in Cod. Dipl. IV. 118 [Ða forew]eard ðe Godwine eorl worhte betweonan ælfstáne abbod..and Leófwine preóste. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 41 Haldeð broþerredene eow bitwenen. c 1205 Lay. 22968 Feond-scipe..bitweone twom monnen. c 1300 Beket 281 The love that bituene hem was. c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 986 Þan comencede a batail newe {revsc} by-twene þes hostes two. 1478 Sir J. Paston Lett. 815 III. 223 Suche cawsys as ar nowe bygunne by twyen my Lorde off Suffolke and me. 1503 Wriothesley Chron. (1875) I. 5 A peace made betwene the Emperoure and the Kinge. 1611 Bible Gen. iii. 15, I will put enmitie betweene thee and the woman, and betweene thy seed and her seed. 1779–84 Horne Disc. (1799) III. iv. 73 A friendly intercourse is opened between the most distant lands. 1857 Buckle Civilis. I. x. 607 To talk of sympathy existing between the two classes is a manifest absurdity. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. Pref. 19 The same opposition between science and religion. |
III. Of relation to things acting conjointly or participating in action.
11. Expressing the position of anything confined or enclosed by objects on opposite sides.
| c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 185 Hwine warpe ich me bitweone þe ilke earmes. 1340 Ayenb. 210 Þou sselt bidde God betuene þine teþ þet is to zigge ine þine herte. c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 19 Þe sacrament of þe auter þat men seen bitwen þe prestis hondis. 1593 Shakes. Lucr. 390 The pillow..Between whose hills her head entombed is. 1643 Denham Coopers H. 224 Between the Mountain and the Stream embrac'd. 1682 Dryden Medal 121 This new Jehu..Instructs the beast..To take the bit between his teeth and fly. 1853 Kane Grinnell Exp. i. (1856) 13 The Arctic Ocean is enclosed between the northern shores of Asia, Europe, and America. |
12. Expressing confinement or restriction to two (or more) parties; especially used of privacy or secrecy in conversation. between ourselves: as a matter not to be communicated to others.
| c 1000 Ags. Gosp. John vii. 35 Þa iudeas cwædon betweonan him sylfum. c 1205 Lay. 25963 Þer heo heom bi-twenen [c 1250 bi-twine] heolden heore runen. c 1300 K. Alis. 1556 Tel me..pryvely bytweone thè and me! 1470–85 Malory Arthur (1816) II. 112 Pray him to speak with me between us two. 1526 Tindale John xi. 56 And spake bitwene [1611 among] them selves. 1588 J. Udall Diotreph. (Arb.) 12 This I tel you between you and me, but I would haue it go no further. 1711 Steele Spect. No. 118 ¶3 Between you and me, I am often apt to imagine it has had some whimsical Effect upon my Brain. 1840 Marryat Poor Jack xix, I was desired to ask you a question..between ourselves. |
13. By the joint action of, done by, shared in by, belonging to (two parties) jointly. (Sometimes said of more than two, when it is desired to mark the participation of all the parties more defintely than can be done by among; cf. 19.)
| 1297 R. Glouc. 32 Þat heo myȝte som eyres bitwene hem forþ bringe. a 1400 Cursor M. 2443 (Laud) By-twene [v.r. bituix] hym and his nevew lot Bestayle they had y-now y wot. 1512 Act 4 Hen. VIII, xi, The heires of the bodies of the seid Countesse and..hir late Husbond decessed bytwene theym laufully begoten. 1590 Shakes. Com. Err. v. i. 177 Betweene them they will kill the coniurer. 1785 Mackenzie Lounger No. 36 They had but one pair of silk stockings between them. 1812 Jane Austen Mansf. Park (1847) 160 We brought home six brace between us. 1867 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) I. App. 776 Between the two we get a full and consistent narrative. |
14. Expressing division and distribution to two (or more) partakers.
| 1758 Johnson Idler No. 19 ¶5 By this ingenious distribution of himself between two houses. 1771 R. Henry Hist. Gt. Brit. I. i. vi. 383 The British trade was thus divided between Marseilles and Narbonne. 1788 J. Powell Devises (1827) II. 627 Her personal estate..should go and be equally divided between her said two grandsons. Mod. They had it between them. |
IV. Of separation.
15. Expressing the relation of a line to two spaces which it separates or divides from each other.
| c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. 713 There was but a ston wal hem be-tweene. c 1400 Mandeville xi. 124 By twyne the Cytee of Darke and the Cytee of Rophane, ys a Ryvere. 1590 Shakes. Mids. N. v. 176 O vvall..That stands betweene her fathers ground and mine. 1770 Burke Pres. Discont. Wks. 1845 I. 383 No man can draw a stroke between the confines of day and night. 1855 Dickens Dorrit i, The line of demarcation between the two colours. |
16. Expressing the relation of motion or action to bodies or surfaces which it forces apart. between the bark and the wood or tree: see bark.
| c 1000 Ags. Ps. cv. 9 And [ðu] hi betweonum wætera weallas læddest. a 1120 O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 1101 Þa heafod men heom betwenan foran. 1642 Rogers Naaman 490 Let none of them come betweene barke and tree to defeat your faith. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. (1872) II. ii. vi. 80 Stand between them, keeping them well separate. 1843 Penny Cycl. XXV. 81/2 The boots..(in which the torture was applied by driving in wedges with a hammer between the flesh and iron rings drawn tightly upon the legs). |
17. fig. to be between, come between, stand between a person and any object desired, or anything threatening him; between combatants, etc.
| c 1325 E.E. Allit. P. A. 657 Now is þer noȝt in þe worlde rounde Bytwene vus & blysse. 1580 Baret Alv. B 602 To go betweene or to be betweene..to make intercession; to let: to prohibite. 1774 Blacklock Graham i. xxiv, With pallid cheek, and trembling frame, Between the combatants she came. 1816 J. Wilson City of Plague i. iii. 103 A sinful wretch implores That thou would'st stand between him and the wrath Of an offended God. 1884 W. C. Smith Kildrostan 55 How could Doris come between us two? |
18. After verbs and nouns of action expressing: a. separation, division; b. subjective separation, distinction, discrimination, discernment, judgement.
| a. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 1691 Gastely ded es twynyng thurgh synne, Bitwene God and man saule within. 1689 Selden Table T. (Arb.) 71 'Twas an unhappy Division that has been made between Faith and Works. 1848 Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 300 A complete separation between the naval and military services. |
| b. 1340 Ayenb. 82 Hi ne conne deme betuene zuete and byter. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 32 To discerne by⁓twene the inspiracyon of the holy goost and the illusyon of the ennemy. 1593 Hooker Eccl. Pol. i. vi. §5 To judge rightly between truth and error. 1771 Junius Lett. lxi. 319 The public must determine between us. 1848 Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 640 In cases of felony, a distinction..is made between the principal and the accessory after the fact. |
V. 19. In all senses, between has been, from its earliest appearance, extended to more than two. In OE. and ME. it was so extended in sense 1, in which among is now considered better. It is still the only word available to express the relation of a thing to many surrounding things severally and individually, among expressing a relation to them collectively and vaguely: we should not say ‘the space lying among the three points,’ or ‘a treaty among three powers,’ or ‘the choice lies among the three candidates in the select list,’ or ‘to insert a needle among the closed petals of a flower.’
| 971 Blickl. Hom. 229 Þa apostoli wǽron æt-somne; and hie sendon hlot him betweonum. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 61 And cristes wille bo us bitwon. c 1205 Lay. 26936 Heo..sweoren heom bitwænen [c 1250 bi-twine] þat heo wolden. a 1225 Ancr. R. 358 In unkuðe londe, & in unkuðe earde, bitwhen unðeode. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 1601 And wulde noȝt ðat folc bi-twen Herberȝed..ben. a 1300 Cursor M. 10244 Ga heþen, he said, fra vs bituin. c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 1255 By-twene hymen þanne euerechon{revsc} þay lift vp þat bodi faste. a 1400 Cov. Myst. 352, I xalle telle ȝow why In ȝoure erys prevyly Betweyn us thre. 1755 Johnson Dict., Between is properly used of two, and among of more; but perhaps this accuracy is not always preserved. 1771 Johnson in Boswell (1826) II. 127, I..hope, that, between publick business, improving studies, and domestick pleasures, neither melancholy nor caprice will find any place for entrance. 1828 Southey Ess. (1832) II. 436 Between the prior, the boatmen, and a little offering to St. Patrick, he had not as much money left, etc. 1885 J. Cowper in N. & Q. Ser. vi. XII. 148/2 There were six, who collected between them 15s. 4d. |
† VI. 20. between and (an adaptation of betwix and: see betwixt A. 3): until, till; with n. or clause.
| a 1400 Cursor M. 16583 (Trin.) Þei alle ne myȝt stir þe cros of þat stede Bitwene & [v.r. bituix and; til] oure lord crist was þider him self lede. Ibid. 20181 (Fairf.) I walde wite gladli bi-twene [v.r. tuix] & quen to take leue atte my kinnismen. |
B. adv. (Mostly the preposition with object understood.)
1. Of place: In an intermediate position or course, midway, in the midst. lit. and fig.
| c 890 K. ælfred Bæda iv. ix. (Bosw.) Ne si lang fæc be⁓tweonum. c 1205 Lay. 276 Heo wepen heore leoten Þe scucke wes bitweonen. 1297 R. Glouc. 355 Þo þat water was bytuene. c 1430 Stans Puer 77 in Babees Bk. (1868) 31 Schewe out þi visage, To glad, ne to sory, but kepe þee euene bitwene. 1606 Shakes. Ant. & Cl. iii. iv. 12 A more unhappie Lady ne're stood betweene. 1667 Milton P.L. iv. 699 Roses, and Gessamin Rear'd high thir flourisht heads between. 1795 Southey Joan of Arc vii. 216 The man of lowly line That instant rush'd between. 1858 Sears Athan. iii. ii. 268 Looking into the immense vacuum between. |
† 2. to go between: to act as a medium or mediator; see go-between. Obs.
| c 1320 Sir Trist. ii. 101 A bischop yede bitvene. 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. ccclviii. 580/1 Certayne good people of Gaunte..went so bytwene in this mater. 1606 Shakes. Tr. & Cr. i. i. 72, I haue..gone betweene and betweene, but small thankes for my labour. |
3. Of time: In the interval, at intervals.
| a 1240 Ureisun 28 in Lamb. Hom. 193 Murie dreameð engles..Pleieð . and sweieð . and singeð . bitweonen. a 1300 Cursor M. 3572 Þe nese it droppes ai bi-tuine. c 1374 Chaucer Troylus v. 1086 How longe it was betweyne That she forsoke hym. 1611 Bible Acts iii. 42 margin, In the sabbath between. 1661 Bk. Com. Prayer, Priv. Baptism Rubr., The first or second Sunday next after their birth, or other Holy-day falling between. 1742 R. Blair Grave 589 Visits, Like those of angels, short and far between. 1830 Tennyson Merman iii, They would pelt me with starry spangles and shells, Laughing and clapping their hands between. |
4. Comb., as between-lens shutter Photogr., a type of shutter that is fitted between the components of a double lens; † between-lier; † between-light, twilight; † between-space, between-time, intervening time, interval; between-times adv., in the intervals of time: = between-whiles; between-war(s) adj. phr., of or belonging to the period between two wars, spec. the world wars of 1914–18 and 1939–45.
| 1674 N. Fairfax Bulk & Selv. 94 A change of the world in the suchness of the *between-lyers, begetting a change in my nearness as answering that suchness. |
| 1821 Clare Vill. Minstr. I. 154 As *'tween-light was cheating the view. |
| a 1641 Bp. R. Montagu Acts & Mon. 341 In the betweene-space of Festus his death and Albinus his succession. |
| 1580 Sidney Arcadia ii. 119 Those great Lords & little kings who in those *between-times of raigning..had brought in..the worst kind of oligarchie. |
| a 1641 Bp. R. Montagu Acts & Mon. 118 All that Interval and between-time, interceding the first and second comming of our Saviour. |
| 1909 Westm. Gaz. 20 Feb. 14/2 The popular *between-lens shutters. 1950 G. L. Wakefield Your Camera Lens & Shutter 86 A between-lens shutter exposes the whole of the film at once; the focal-plane shutter..exposes it piecemeal in strips. |
| 1909 Westm. Gaz. 10 Aug. 6/3 There is no question of any between-time. Immediately the day ends, the night's work begins. 1952 E. Bowen Demon Lover 222 These are between-time stories. |
| 1907 Westm. Gaz. 13 Sept. 2/1 The Fairy Queen sat *between-times, when she was aweary, beside the Fairy King. |
| 1941 ‘G. Orwell’ Lion & Unicorn 44 The stagnation of the Empire in the *between-war years. 1945 J. B. Priestley Three Men in New Suits viii. 142 Those bright successful novels of the between-wars period. |
C. quasi-n.
1. Anything occupying an intermediate position; an interval of time.
| 1611 Shakes. Wint. T. iii. iii. 62 There is nothing (in the betweene) but stealing, fighting. 1851 R. Trench Steadf. Prince xxxix, All the dreary and the dread Between Was gone, like aught which had not ever been. |
2. An intermediate size of sewing-needle.
| 1849 Longfellow Kavanagh v. 22 If I do not like the sizes, he offers to exchange them for others, either sharps or betweens. 1862 Morrall Needle Making 39 The Betweens are still shorter than the Ground downs, half a size thicker, and with stronger points. 1955 J. E. Liberty Pract. Tailoring (ed. 2) i. 2 There are several types of needles, chief of which (for tailoring) are ground downs, betweens and sharps... Betweens, as the name implies, are medium pointed. |
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Add: [A.] [12.] b. In various colloq. phrases, as between you and me and the bed-post (gate-post, etc.): see bed-post n., gate-post n. b, *lamp-post n. b, post n.1 1 c.