two
/tuː
/- Since then she has married, and two years ago she left her native Philadelphia for New Jersey.
- The hearing was a review of a case heard about two years ago, and the men had pleaded guilty.
- But for many called up, they were just sent in ones and twos to reserve or active duty units.
- People began drifting into the auditorium in ones and twos, while the competing teams brushed up their knowledge of various subjects, before going on stage to pit their wits against one another.
- She's not the only one - the actors have it as well, coming down in the elevator at the Winter Garden in twos and threes, then wandering out the stage door onto Victoria St. in search of a sugar fix.
- We would expect them to have comparable mental agility until the age of two.
- At the age of two, she was adopted by Bob and Peggy, who eventually settled in Hampshire.
- They cater for men and boys from the age of two upwards and have trousers and jeans up to a 62 in waist.
- It was very late one night, about two in the morning, and there was this fabulous drumming rain.
- In his Madchester days, he once said an average night out started at two in the afternoon.
- Further on, at about two in the morning, I left the bar and went to a cafe for a cup of coffee.
- Some people play that a single two beats any combination (in the basic game you would need three twos to beat three aces).
- Some say that if either player has any aces and twos in their concealed hand which can be played to the centre, they must play one such card to break the stalemate.
Phrases
a —— or two (or two or three ——)
be two a penny
in two
in two shakes (of a lamb's tail)
it takes two to tango
put two and two together
that makes two of us
two by two (or two and two)
two can play at that game
two cents (or two cents' worth)
two's company, three's a crowd
two heads are better than one
Origin
Old English twā (feminine and neuter) of Germanic origin; related to Dutch twee and German zwei, from an Indo-European root shared by Latin and Greek duo. Compare with twain.
An Old English word from the same source as twain, twelve, twenty, twilight, and twin (all OE), with an ancient root shared by Latin and Greek duo, source of double (Middle English), duo (late 16th century), duplicate (Late Middle English), and other words. The formula it takes two to…appeared in the 1850s in it takes two to make a quarrel, and in the 1940s in it takes two to make a bargain (see also tango). The saying two's company, three's a crowd was originally two's company, three's none, in the 1730s. Before the British currency was decimalized in 1971 twopence or tuppence was a standard sum. To add or put in your twopenn'orth is to contribute your opinion; twopenn'orth is a contraction of twopennyworth meaning ‘an amount costing two pence’, used also for ‘a small or insignificant amount’.