Forms: 1 tuiʓin, tuuin, tuin, 1–3 twin, 4–5, (7) twyn, 4–7 twyne, (5 tuyne, 6 twhyne, twind), 6– twine. [OE. twín (also early twiʓin) = Du. and Flem. twijn (in Kilian also tweyn), related to TWINE v.1, and ultimately from the stem of TWI-. Cf. ON. and Icel. tvinni (Norw. dial. tvinne, Da. tvinde, dial. twin, twen, NFris. twin), Du. tweern, MLG. twern, MHG. and G. zwirn in the same sense.]
1. Thread or string composed of two or more yarns or strands twisted together; now spec. string or strong thread, made of hemp, cotton, or other fiber, used for sewing coarse materials (as canvas or sacking), tying packages, netting, and the like; with a and pl. a piece or kind of this.
In OE. found only as a rendering of L. byssus, bissus, prob. through association of this with bis twice. In mod. English use chiefly technical or commercial, but in Scotland and U.S. common as a general synonym of string.
c. 725. Corpus Gloss. (O.E.T.), 343. Byssum, tuin.
a. 800. Erfurt Gloss., 138. Byssum, tuiʓin.
c. 897. K. Ælfred, Gregory’s Past. C., xiv. 83. Ðæt hræʓl … of twispunnenum twine linenum. Ibid., 87. Ðæt scyle beon twiðræwen twin on ðæm masseʓierelan.
c. 1000. Ags. Gosp., Luke xvi. 19. He wæs ʓescrydd mid purpuran & mid twine.
c. 1205. Lay., 14220. Nes þe þwong noht swiðe bræd, Buten swulc a twines þræd.
c. 1385. Chaucer, L. G. W., 2016 (Ariadne). By a clewe of twyn [v.r. twyne] as he hath gon … he may returne a-non.
14[?]. Hoccleve, Ad beatam Virginem, 71. His sotil snares, and cacchynge twyn.
c. 1425. trans. Arderne’s Treat. Fistula, 23. A fourfold þrede of silk white or of strong lyne or tuyne.
1481–90. Howard Househ. Bks. (Roxb.), 63. Paid for marlyn twyn xvj. d.
c. 1500. New Not-br. Mayd, 297, in Hazl., E. P. P., II. 284. Shetis clene, to lye betwene, made of thred and twyne.
1512–3. Durham Acc. Rolls (Surtees), 106. Pro vj li. lez sayll twyne … xviijd.
1592. R. D., Hypnerotomachia, 17 b. A spindle ful of twind.
1614. Gorges, Lucan, VIII. 346. A twine, That strangle may this throate of mine.
1692. Capt. Smith’s Seaman’s Gram., II. xxxi. 150. The Cases … must be Armed about with strong Twine or Cord.
1719. De Foe, Crusoe (Globe), 20. A Parcel of Twine or Thread. Ibid., 578. We had Twine or Packthread.
1791. Cowper, Odyss., X. 30. The winds,… so bound With silver twine that not a breath escaped.
1806–7. J. Beresford, Miseries Hum. Life (1826), III. xii. No garters, except twine, which you are at last obliged to use.
1827. D. Johnson, Ind. Field Sports, 42. To these cords a small twine or silk thread is fixed.
1862. Catal. Internat. Exhib., Brit., II. No. 3659. Cotton twines run 30 per cent. longer length than hemp, same weight.
1867. Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., s.v., Irish twine or thumb-line, like nettles, is worked by the fingers from fine yarns drawn from bolt-rope.
1871. C. Gibbon, Lack of Gold, vi. He had a bundle of twine between his teeth.
b. transf. and fig. in various applications.
1557. Tottel’s Misc. (Arb.), 165. Or her vntrue professed loue so feble is the twine.
1567. Drant, Horace, Epistles, II. i. G vij. Our toyle … in making of our poems … By drawing them so featly forth and with so cleane a twyne.
1595. Markham, Sir R. Grinvile, cxxiii. Behold a goddesse shall my lifes twine breake.
1614. Sylvester, Bethulia’s Rescue, II. 279. That sacred Twine Which Man to Man, and Man to God doth joyn.
1615. Hieron, Wks., I. 595. An holy twine, artificially made vp … of three seuerall threeds … for the fastning of the soule of a Christian to his God.
1667. Dryden, Secret Love, III. i. Destiny … Spinn’s all their fortunes in a silken twine.
1728–46. Thomson, Spring, 210. The dissolving clouds Form … thy showery prism; And … unfold The various twine of light.
a. 1763. Shenstone, Elegies, xviii. 58. Rob’d in the Gallic loom’s extraneous twine.
1895. Crockett, Men of Moss-Hags, xxv. 187. It liketh us to go to our King’s court through the crash of battle rather than through the hank of the hangman’s twine.
2. A twined or twisted object or part. a. A twining or trailing stem or spray of a plant.
1579. Spenser, Sheph. Cal., Oct., 111. My temples … girt in girlonds of wild Yuie twine. Ibid. (1590), F. Q., I. vi. 14. With an yuie twine his waste is girt about.
1652. Culpepper, Eng. Physic., 35. The root … with many long twines or branches growing from it.
a. 1678. Marvell, Appleton Ho., 609. Bind me, ye woodbines, in your ’twines.
1908. Blackw. Mag., Oct., 536. Golden clusters from the twine depend.
b. A fold; a coil; a convolution; a twist or turn in the course of anything.
1600. Fairfax, Tasso, XVIII. c. That glorious ensigne, with a thousand twines.
1629. Milton, Nativity, 226. Typhon huge ending in snaky twine.
1649. G. Daniel, Trinarch., To Rdr. 191. A trayterous spider in the Twine Of her owne Thred.
1814. Scott, Ld. of Isles, VI. xiii. A diadem of gold … And clasp’d within its glittering twine Was seen the glove of Argentine.
1870. E. Peacock, Ralf Skirl., I. 22. As full of twines as a sheep-track.
c. A tangle, knot, snarl. In quots. fig.
1865. J. Thomson, Art, I. i. Such subtle knots and twines!
1869. Browning, Ring & Bk., VIII. 778. So multiplied were reasons pro and con, Delicate, intertwisted and obscure, That Law refused loan of a finger-tip To unravel, readjust the hopeless twine.
3. The action or an act of twining. a. An embrace, a clasping. Now rare or Obs.
1602. Marston, Antonio’s Rev., I. iv. Wks. 1856, I. 84. Clipping the strumpet with luxurious twines.
1607. Beaumont, Woman Hater, II. i. The twyns of Adders, and of Scorpions … will seem to me More tickling than those claspes, which men adore.
1697. Dryden, Virg. Georg., II. 301. Aspiring Vines, Embracing Husband Elms in am’rous twines.
1759. W. Mason, Caractacus, Poems 1830, II. 78. In undulating twine, The foaming snakes prolific join.
a. 1839. L. E. Landon, Poems (1844), I. 34. The lattice … Half hidden by a bridal twine Of jasmine with the emerald vine.
b. poet. in various applications: see quots.
1615. Chapman, Odyss., X. 306. As she some web wrought; or her spindles twine She cherisht with her song.
1652. J. Ramsey, in Fletcher’s Wild Goose Chase, Pref. Verses, a ij. Till to his watry Center he [sc. the river] hath got By wrigling twines, subtile as Fletcher’s plot.
1880. Browning, Dram. Idyls, Pan & Luna, 51. Vain each twist and twine Those lithe limbs try.
c. A turn of fortune, a vicissitude.
1768. Ross, Helenore, III. 124. A’ that’s past By unko twines, has fa’en sae well.
† 4. as adj. Made by twining or twisting; twisted; spun. Obs. rare. (See also TWINE THREAD.)
1513. Douglas, Æneis, IV. x. 102. The god … biddis smyte the twyne cabill in tuay.
1583. Durham Wills (Surtees), II. 78. ij paire of twine roppes.
† b. Of a line: Forming a spiral; helical. Obs. rare–1.
1551. Recorde, Pathw. Knowl., I. Defin., A twine or twist line … goeth as a wreyth about some other bodie.
5. attrib. and Comb., as twine-ball (BALL sb.1 10 c), -box, color, -cord, -maker, net, netting, -reel, -tone; twine-colored, -like, -toned adjs.; twine-making, -twisting adjs. and sbs.; also twine-binder, a binder that ties the sheaves with twine (cf. wire-binder); so twine-binding a.; twine-bush, an Australian shrub, Hakea flexilis, N.O. Proteaceæ (Cent. Dict., 1889, s.v. Hakea); twine cloth, fine cotton shirting, calico; twine-cutter: see quot.; twine-grass, the Tufted Vetch (Vicia Cracca), or the Hairy Vetch (V. hirsuta); twine-holder, twine-machine, † twine-masking [cf. MASK sb.1], twine-reeler: see quots.; twine-spinner, one who spins twine; so twine-spinning; twine-wheel, in a spinning-machine, a wheel through which the twisting motion is given. See also TWINE THREAD.
1889. Pall Mall G., 26 Dec., 5/3. Freethinkers who imagine themselves able to sound with their penny *twine-balls the ocean of immensity.
1902. Sci. Amer. Supp., 20 Dec., 22546/3. A practical *twine binder. Ibid. He established *twine binding machines as the grain harvesters of the time.
1907. Westm. Gaz., 1 Aug., 2/1. In the tinsmiths’ shop … *twine-boxes, boxes for stamping-pads, and similar articles, are turned out.
1815. Roy. Milit. Chron., June, Advt. The New Imperial *Twine Cloth … for family use and for Sheeting.
1882. Daily News, 3 June, 3/1. Lace in the prevalent *twine colour.
1883. Miss Braddon, Gold. Calf, xxxi. She felt sorry she had put on her best hat and Indian silk frock, elaborately frilled with twine-colored lace.
1897. Westm. Gaz., 25 March, 3/2. Nile green and *twine-coloured lace.
1712. Steele, Spect., No. 444, ¶ 4. A *Twine-Cord, strained with two Nails at each End, over his Window.
1862. Catal. Internat. Exhib., Brit., II. No. 3800. Twine cord and line.
1875. Knight, Dict. Mech., *Twine-cutter, a blade or knife on a table, stand, or counter, to cut twine when tying packages.
1744–50. W. Ellis, Mod. Husbandm., VI. 11. 48 (E.D.S.). Wild thetch or *twine-grass.
1875. Knight, Dict. Mech., *Twine-holder, a box or case to hold a ball of twine on a counter.
1817. Coleridge, Biog. Lit., 82. Lank, black, *twine-like hair.
1875. Knight, Dict. Mech., *Twine-machine, a spinning-machine for small hempen or cotton string.
1815. Simond, Tour Gt. Brit., II. 79. A number of *twine-makers.
1904. Daily News, 18 May, 5. At eleven I started *twine-making.
1615. E. S., Britain’s Buss, B iij. The 7 deepinges of each net are to be sowed, each to other, altogether, with a small thred called, *Twine Masking.
1855. Poultry Chron., II. 574. One tarred *Twine Net, 9 feet long, by 9 wide. Ibid. (1854), I. 228. New *twine netting … one yard wide, 11/2d. per yard.
1858. Simmonds, Dict. Trade, *Twine-reel, a shop reel or box for holding string. Ibid., *Twine-reeler, a mule-doubler; a string-twister.
1723. Lond. Gaz., No. 6128/4. Foulk Wyatt,… *Twine-spinner or Ropemaker.
1896. Daily News, 14 Nov., 7/6. A retired twine spinner.
1808. Pict. London, 235. Rope-making and *twine-spinning.
1900. Westm. Gaz., 22 March, 3/1. *Twine-toned lawn…. To get that *twine-tone,… one must either tint one’s white collar with tea or coffee or [etc.].
1897. Daily News, 1 June, 1/1. *Twine twisting and polishing mills for making the yarns into twines and thread.
1884. W. S. B. McLaren, Spinning, viii. 159. The driving power comes … through all the *twine wheels, to the front roller.
Hence Twineless a., destitute of twine.
1909. A. Reid, Kirriemuir, ii. 12. They were the laddies’ ‘strings’ in an almost twineless age.
