in-beˈtween
[subst. or attrib. use of phr. in between (in adv. + between prep. or adv.).]
a. quasi-n. (a) An interval; (b) A person who intervenes. b. quasi-adj. Placed between. Hence in-beˈtweener, inbeˈtweener, a person who takes up an intermediate position (chiefly fig.).
| 1815 Jane Austen Emma i. iii, Busy..talking and listening, and forming all these schemes in the in-betweens. 1815 Zeluca I. 393 He's fallen in love with Lady Naglefort, because she's an in-between. 1898 Westm. Gaz. 22 Sept. 3/2 White or pale-coloured silk, with an in-between layer of chiffon. 1924 Contemp. Rev. Apr. 459 The undeserving and the in-betweeners far outnumber the deserving. 1927 C. Shaw Let. 17 May in Knightley & Simpson Secret Lives Lawrence of Arabia (1969) xvii. 256 In Ireland... We had The Gentry and The People: nothing else. You will say ‘but the in-betweeners?’ They belonged to the people. 1939 C. E. Smith in Ramsey & Smith Jazzmen 247 The inbetweeners are still there but the musician has become an individual. 1942 O. Nash Good Intentions (1943) 162 He was a born in-betweener... He always thought that there was much to be said on both sides. 1970 S.A. Panorama Feb. 25/1 He joined the London Polytechnic Studios. He started as an ‘in-betweener’—the name given to the most junior apprentice. |