TWAIN

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does twain mean? 

• TWAIN (noun)
  The noun TWAIN has 1 sense:

1. two items of the same kind

  Familiarity information: TWAIN used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• TWAIN (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Two items of the same kind

Classified under:

Nouns denoting quantities and units of measure

Synonyms:

brace; couple; couplet; distich; duad; duet; duo; dyad; pair; span; twain; twosome; yoke

Hypernyms ("twain" is a kind of...):

2; deuce; II; two (the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one or a numeral representing this number)

Meronyms (parts of "twain"):

fellow; mate (one of a pair)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "twain"):

doubleton ((bridge) a pair of playing cards that are the only cards in their suit in the hand dealt to a player)

 Context examples 

“I had hoped,” said Alleyne, falling into the humor of the twain, “that a tranchoir of bread and a draught of milk might be attached to it.”

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The night—its silence—its rest, was rent in twain by a savage, a sharp, a shrilly sound that ran from end to end of Thornfield Hall.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

And then, as half the crowd strained to the left and half to the right to avoid the pressure from behind, the vast mass was suddenly reft in twain, and through the gap surged the rough fellows from behind, all armed with loaded sticks and yelling for Fair play and Gloucester!

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Such sayings exist in numerous languages: other examples in English include "Grape or grain, but never the twain”, while Germans claim “Wein auf Bier, das rat’ ich Dir—Bier auf Wein, das lass’ sein” and the French say “Bière sur vin est venin, vin sur bière est belle manière”.###!!!###

(Wine before beer, or beer before wine? Either way, you’ll be hungover, University of Cambridge)

As his opponent walked towards him he suddenly bounded forward and sent in a whistling cut which would have severed the other in twain had he not sprung lightly back from it.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Alleyne sat between them munching his bread, while the twain disputed across his knees, leaning forward with flushed faces and darting hands, in all the heat of argument.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

There was no need, however, for him to move, for the twain came swiftly towards them until they were within a spear's length, when the man with the cross sat himself down sullenly upon a tussock of grass by the wayside, while the other stood beside him with his great cudgel still hanging over his head.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

By good fortune, the wood was so light and rotten that it went to a thousand splinters, but Alleyne thought it best to leave the twain to settle the matter at their leisure, the more so as the sun was shining brightly once more.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)