twat 
I humid liy liniwnini! In the old royalist rimes " Vanity of 
Vanities, and, (m the reppoflltloa tluit the w<ntl di-mitri! 
"a distinctive |Kirt of u nun's atlm: thiil might 11th p;iir 
olf with the cowl appropriated to a monk," HI u>rd lij him 
in his " I'ippa Passes."] 
twatterlightt, Same as heitterUght, 
What inak'st thoil here this twatterliyht f 
I think thciu'rt In a dtt'iim. 
Will! llryuited (Hawkins, Eng. Dr., III. 331). 
twattle (twot'l), p.; pret. ami pp. tirattletl, ppr. 
lirnlllini/. [Frccj. of lintt.<. [ceL thwiettu, talk, 
Babble, = Norw. ticiettu = Dan. Ira-Hi . jalilier. 
talk nonsense; perhaps connected with Icel. 
Iliini'/li in iirlliir.rlti, slops from wash, refuse 
(Sw. trritta = Dau. tesette, wasln, < tinea = Sw. 
li'ii Dan. IIH-, wash: set; towel 1 .'] I. intrints. 
To chatter unmeaningly or foolishly; jabber; 
gabble; tattle; twaddle. 
Prattlers, which would go from house to house, twattling, 
mid bubbling out frothy speech that was good for nothing. 
1C. IKAoWej/, Redemption of Time (1C34), p. 15. (Lulli'im i 
Idle persons, that will spend whole hours together In 
ImiUliny uml talking idly, and of other men's matters. 
Baxter, Self-Denial, xxvii. 
II. trans. 1. To utter incoherently or fool- 
ishly; repeat idly; tattle. 
As readye forgde flttons as true tales vaynelye toe twattle. 
Stanihurst, .Kuriii. Iv. (ed. Arber, p. 101). 
2. To make much of; fondle; pat, as a horse, 
cow, dog, etc. Grose. [Prov. Eng.] 
twattle (twot'l), . and o. [< twattle, v.] I. 
. 1. Chatter; gabble; tattle; twaddle. Com- 
pare twittle-tieattle. 2. A diminutive person ; 
a dwarf. Halliwell. 
Il.t Twattling; trifling; petty. 
They show him the short and twaltle [pet its] verses that 
were written. Urquhart, tr. of Rabelais, ill. 18. (Daaiet.) 
twattlebaskett (twot'l-bas"ket), n. An idle 
chatterer; a babbler; a prater; a twaddler. 
Bailey. 1727. 
twatt'ler (twot'ler), . [< twattle + -er 1 .] 
One who twattles or prates; a gabbler; a 
twaddler. 
Let vs, in Gods name, leaue lieng for varlets. herding 
for rufnans, facing for crakers, chatting for twatlers. 
Stanihurst, Descrlp. of Ireland, vi. (Uolinshed's Chron., I.). 
twattling (twot'ling), n. [Verbal n. of twat- 
tle.] A chatter; a gabbling. 
You keep such a twattliny with you and your bottling ; 
But I see the sum total, we shall ne'er have a bottle. 
Swift, To Dr. Sheridan, Dec. 14, 1719. 
twattling (twot'ling), p. a. I. Gabbling; prat- 
ing; twaddling. 
It Is not for every twattling gossip to undertake. 
Sir A. L'Ettntvje. 
2. Small; trifling; insignificant. 
You feed us with twatlintj dishes soe small ; 
Zounds, a blacke-pudding is better than all. 
Kiny and Miller of Mannjield (Child's Ballads, VIII. 43). 
twayt (twa), a. and . Same as two. 
twayblade (twa'blad), n. [Var. of twiblade.] 
Primarily, a European orchid, Listera ovata, 
a simple-stemmed 
Elant a foot or more 
igh, bearing a 
slender raceme of 
green flowers, and 
about six inches 
from the ground a 
single pair of 
broadly ovate 
leaves, to which 
the name refers. 
The name is extended 
to the other species of 
the genus, 3 of which 
are found In North 
America, L. concalla- 
rioides being the most 
notable. In America 
the name is also ap- 
plied to the members 
of the genus Liparis, 
which bear two leaves, 
springing. however, 
from the root. L. lilii- 
folia, with purple flow- 
ers, is a very handsome 
species. 
In autumn, under the beeches which clothe the long 
slope of the Quantocks up from Bishop's Lydiard, you will 
hardly mid any thing, except perhaps a tway.blade or a 
herb-paris. The Academy, April ii, 1889, p. 241. 
tweagt, tweaguet (tweg), v. t. Old forms of 
tweak 1 , tireak'-. 
tweak 1 (twek), f. i. [Formerly also tweatf, 
tircngiie; a var. of ttrick, uuassibilated form of 
tii-itt'li.] 1. To twitch; pinch and pull with 
or as with a sharp jerk; twinge. 
Now tweak him by the nose hard, harder yet. 
/;. Jonson, Magnetick I :rl\, iii. 4. 
Twayblade 
a, flower. 
6549 
Her bones were wrung by rheumatic twinges ; her old 
toes tweaked with corns. 
/.. WingfteU, The Lovely Wang, ii. 
2. To put into a fret, perplexity, or dilemma. 
Jiiii/cy. 1731. 
tweak 1 (twek), n. [< ttccak 1 , v."] 1. A sharp 
pinch or jerk ; a twitch. 
Bobs o' the Lips. Tuvalu by the Nose, Cuffs o' the Ear, 
and Trenchers at iuy Head in abundance. 
Bronte, Northern Lass, II. I. 
2. A pineh; dilemma; perplexity: as, to be 
in a sad final.-. E. Phillips, 1706. Also tieeag, 
tweague. 
I fancy this put the old fellow In a rare tuxamte. 
Arbuthnot, Hist. John Bull, lil. o. 
tweak'-'t (twek), n. [Origin obscure.] 1. A 
prostitute. 
Your twealntre like your mermaids, they have sweet 
voices to entice the passengers. 
Middleton and Rowley, Fair Quarrel, IT. 4. 
2. A whoremonger. Ualliinll. 
tweasome (twe'som), n. A dialectal form of 
twononii . flii/liwell. 
tweatt, ii. See twaite^. 
twee (twe), n. [By aphesis from etwee, etttcee, 
etui: see etui. Cf. tweeze.] Same as etui. 
/lam-lie, p. 183. 
tweed (twed), n. and a. [Said to be an acciden- 
tal perversion of tweel for twill 1 : see the quota- 
tion.] I. n. A twilled fabric, principally for 
men's wear, having an unfinished surface, and 
two colors generally combined in the game yarn. 
The best quality Is made wholly of wool, but in inferior 
kinds cotton, etc., are Introduced. The manufacture Is 
largely carried on in the south of Scotland. The word 
is sometimes used in the plural. 
It was the word "tweeU" having been blotted or im- 
perfectly written on an invoice which gave rise to the now 
familiar name of these goods. The word was read as 
tweedi by the late James Locke of London, and It was so 
appropriate, from the goods being made on the banks of 
the Tweed, that It was at once adopted, and has been con- 
tinued ever since. Border Admrtiter. (Imp. Diet.) 
He was manly, vigorous, and distinguished ; nor did he 
wear at entertainments a shabby suit of mustard-colored 
Iweedt. The Century, XL. 578. 
II. a. Pertaining to or made of tweed. 
Round hats and tutted suits are no sign of independence 
of thought. Fortnightly Ren., N. 8., XL. 3. 
tweedle (twe'dl), v. ; pret. and pp. tweedled, ppr. 
tweedliny. [Prob. a var. of twiddle, in sense 3 
perhaps by confusion with wheedle.] I. trans. 
1. To handle lightly and idly ; twiddle; fiddle 
with. 2. To play on a fiddle or bagpipe. Bai- 
ley, 1731. 3t. To wheedle; coax. 
A fiddler. . . brought in with him a body of lusty young 
fellows, whom he had tweedled Into the service. 
Additvn, Freeholder, No. 3. 
II. intrant. To wriggle; twist one's self about. 
Dick beard, and tweedling, ogling, bridling, 
Turning short round, strutting and sideling, 
Attested, glad, his approbation. 
Cowper, Fairing Time Anticipated. 
tweedle (twe'dl), n. [< tweedle, n."] A sound 
such as is made by a fiddle. 
[The words tweedledum and twetdledee are humorous 
expansions of tweedle, used together to indicate distinc- 
tions that are almost imperceptible. 
Strange all this difference should be 
Twixt tweedledum and twetdledee. 
Kyrom, Feuds between Handel and Buononclnl. J 
Tweed King. See ring 1 . 
Tweed's case. See cos* 1 . 
tweeg (tweg), H. [Amer. Ind.] The menopome 
or hellbender, Menopoma alleghaniensis. See 
cut under hellbender. 
tweel (twel), n. and v. A Scotch variant of 
twill 1 . Compare tweed. 
'tween (twen), prep. A contraction of between. 
The iron bit he cnisheth 'tween his teeth. 
Shak., Venus and Adonis, 1. 269. 
'tween-brain (twen'bran), n. The cerebral 
segment between the fore-brain and niidbrain ; 
the interbrain, diencephalon, or thalamenceph- 
alon. Also 'tvixt-brain. 
'tween-deck (twen'dek), a. Being or lodging 
between decks. 
The crew and the 'tween-deet passengers. 
W. C. Ruaell, Jack's Courtship, xxxviii. 
'tween-decks (twen'deks), adv. and n. Same 
as between-deckn. 
The blubber is cut into pieces about a foot square and 
stowed into the 'twetn-deda. Encyc, Brit., XXIV. 528. 
tweeny (twe'ni), n. ; pi. ttceenits (-niz). [< 'ticeen 
+ -y 2 .] A servant who works between two 
others, or assists both. [Prov. Eng.] 
Being in want of a girl to ease both the cook and the 
housemaid, my wife made her requirements known to some 
neighbour, who replied, "Oh, yes; I see. You want a 
tweenie." If. and Q., 7th ser., VI. 45s. 
Twelfth-day 
tweer't (twer), r. and H. s. , / 
tweer 2 (twer), n. [An accom. E. form of F. 
liii/n'i: see tii-iit, :\ Same as tiryi r. I.. II. 
knight. 
tweeze, tweese (twez), w. [See twee, etui, and 
cf. hMMMV,] 1. A surgeons' case of instru- 
ments. 
Drawing a little penknife out of a pair of tweezet I then 
chanced to have about me. Boyle, Works, II. 419. 
2. pi. Same as tweezers, 1. 
Take anything that ' given you, purses, knives, band- 
kerchers, rosaries, tireeze*, any toy, any money. 
Middl.tim and Rowley, Spanish Oypsy, ii. 1. 
tweezer 1 (twe'/.tr), r. [< ticcezer-g, n.] I. i- 
trann. To use tweezers. 
I like Elchhorn better than Paulus : there Is less mtcrol- 
ogy, less tweezering at trifle*, in his erudition. 
W. Taylor, To H, Southey, Dec. 7, lOB(in Robberd. II. 
1148). 
II. trans. To extract with or as with tweezers. 
Having tweezered out what slender blossom lived on lip 
or cheek of manhood. 
TVnnuKUL quoted In James Hadley's Essays, Phllol. and 
[Critical, p. 301. 
tweezer- (twe'zer), n. The American mergan- 
ser. Also called weaser. G. Trumbull, 1888. 
tweezer-caae (twe'zer-kas), n. 1. A case for 
carrying tweezers safely, as about the person, 
or on a journey. 
There heroes' wits are kept In pond'rous vases, 
And beaux' In snuH-boxes and tu'rtzer^anet. 
Pope, R. of the L., v. 116. 
2. Same as twee:e, 1. 
tweezers (twe'zers), n. pi. [Formerly tweeser; 
prob., with -er for orig. -el, and by confusion 
with ticeeze, tweese, a var. of E. dial, twixsel, a 
fork of a tree, also a double fruit, < ME. toeisel, 
double (twixel tunge, a double tongue), < AS. 
ticisel, fork : see twissel. -The word appears to 
have been confused with ticeezc, and in def. 2 
is considered a corruption of tweezes, the pi. 
of tweeze (cf. trousers from trouses).] 1. An 
instrument, resembling diminutive tongs, for 
grasping and holding: intended for taking up 
very small objects, plucking out hairs, etc. 
Also called volsella. 
In the Inside of the case were the usual assortment of 
silk and needles, with scissors, tweezert, &c. 
.Scott, Heart of Mid-Lothian, xxxviii. 
2. Same as tweeze, 1. E. H. Knight. 
tweifoldt, a. A Middle English form of twofold. 
tweinet, " An old spelling of twain. 
twelfth (twelfth), a. and n. [With -th for ear- 
lier -t,< ME. twelfte,< AS. twelfta (= OFries. ttci- 
lifla, Mfta = D. teo//dc = MLG. twelfte, twolfte, 
LG. twolfte, twolfte = OHG. zwelifto, zicelifte, 
MHG. swelfte, G. zwolfte = Icel. tolfti = Sw. 
tolfte = Dan. tolvte = Gotb.'twalifta), twelfth ; 
as twelve + -th 3 .] I. a. 1. Next in order after 
the eleventh: an ordinal numeral. 2. Being 
one of twelve equal parts into which a whole 
is regarded as divided Twelfth cranial nerve, 
the hypoglossal, or motor nerve of the muscles of the 
tongue : In the old enumeration the ninth. 
II. . 1. One of twelve equal parts of any- 
thing ; the quotient of unity divided by twelve. 
2. In early Eng. law, a twelfth of the rents 
of the year, or of movables, or both, granted 
or levied by way of tax. 3. In music, a tone 
twelve diatonic degrees above or below a given 
tone, or the interval between two such tones; 
a compound fifth. 4. In organ-building, a stop 
giving tones a twelfth above the normal pitch 
of the digitals used. 5f. Twelfth-day. Paston 
Letter.,UI.33. 
Twelfth-cake (twelfth'kak),n. A cake prepared 
for the festivities of Twelfth-night. Into this 
cake a bean is introduced, and, the cake being divided by 
lot, whoever draws the piece containing the bean Is en- 
titled, as the bean-king, to preside over the ceremonies. 
In the same way a queen has sometimes been chosen in 
addition to or Instead of a king. Coins have occasionally 
been substituted for the bean. 
Scarcely a shop In London ... Is without Twelfth- 
eakei and finery in the windows on Twelfth-day. 
Hone, Every-Day Book, L 60. 
The celebration of Twelfth-Day with the costly and ele- 
gant Tire (fth cake has much declined within the last half- 
century. Chambers'! Book of Dayt, I. 64. 
Twelfth-day (twelfth'da), n. [< ME. Ttcetthe- 
tlni/; < tirdftli + day."\ The twelfth day after 
Christmas; the festival of the Epiphany, oc- 
curring on the 6th of January. Also called 
7V< /fill-tide. See Epiphany. 
And my lord of Wynchestr and my Lord of Seint Jones 
were with him on the morow after TweUheday, and he 
speke to hem as well as ever he did. 
Fatten Letter*,!. S15. 
Ill its character as a popular festival, Tireffth- Day stands 
only inferior to Christmas. The leading object held in 
