Be*tween" (&?;), prep. [OE. bytwene,
bitweonen, AS. betweónan, betweónum;
prefix be- by + a form fr. AS. twā two, akin to Goth.
tweihnai two apiece. See Twain, and cf. Atween,
Betwixt.] 1. In the space which separates;
betwixt; as, New York is between Boston and Philadelphia.
2. Used in expressing motion from one body or place
to another; from one to another of two.
If things should go so between them.
Bacon.
3. Belonging in common to two; shared by
both.
Castor and Pollux with only one soul between
them.
Locke.
4. Belonging to, or participated in by, two, and
involving reciprocal action or affecting their mutual relation; as,
opposition between science and religion.
An intestine struggle, open or secret, between
authority and liberty.
Hume.
5. With relation to two, as involved in an act or
attribute of which another is the agent or subject; as, to judge
between or to choose between courses; to distinguish
between you and me; to mediate between nations.
6. In intermediate relation to, in respect to time,
quantity, or degree; as, between nine and ten o'clock.
Between decks, the space, or in the space, between
the decks of a vessel. -- Between ourselves,
Between you and me, Between themselves,
in confidence; with the understanding that the matter is not to be
communicated to others.
Syn. -- Between, Among. Between
etymologically indicates only two; as, a quarrel between two men or
two nations; to be between two fires, etc. It is however extended to
more than two in expressing a certain relation.
I . . . hope that between public business, improving
studies, and domestic pleasures, neither melancholy nor caprice will find
any place for entrance.
Johnson.
Among implies a mass or collection of things or persons, and
always supposes more than two; as, the prize money was equally divided
among the ship's crew.
Be*tween", n. Intermediate time or
space; interval. [Poetic & R.] Shak.
