2 entries under this word

Between

A-tween', adv. or prep.

adverbpreposition

[See supra. Cf. BETWEEN.] Between. [Obs.] Spenser.

Be-tween', prep.

preposition

[O. Eng. bytweene, bytweene, by-twyme, from the prefix be, equiv. to Eng. by, and twain, two; A-S. betwyman, betweonan. See TWAIN, ATWAIN, and ATWEEN.]

  1. In the intermediate space of, without regard to distance; betwixt; as, New York is between Boston and Philadelphia.
  2. From one to another of. “If things should go so between them.” Bacon.
  3. Belonging in common, or in partnership to two of; shared by two or both of; having mutual relation to two or more of.

Castor and Pollux with only one soul between them. Locke. 4. Belonging to two, as a mutual relation, or an attribute involving mutual relation. An intestine struggle, open or secret, between authority and liberty. Hume.

  1. With relation to two, as involved in an act or attribute of which another is the agent or subject; as, to judge between; to choose between; to distinguish between; to mediate between.
  2. In intermediate relation to, in respect to time, quantity, or degree.

Syn.—BETWEEN, AMONG. Between applies properly to only two parties; as, a quarrel between two men, two nations; to be between two fires, &c. Among denotes a mass or collection of things, and always supposes more than two; as, the prize money was equally divided among the ship’s crew. It is, therefore, a gross blunder to speak of dividing a thing among two persons.