Word.ws English Dictionary

tuppence

UK/ˈtʌp(ə)ns/

tuppence noun: two pence (in pre- or post-decimalisation currency). Also the ellipsis of tuppence worth.

Noun

tuppence (countable and uncountable, plural tuppences)

  1. (Ireland, UK, dated, informal) Two pence (in pre- or post-decimalisation currency).
    • Milk has gone up to tuppence ha’penny a pint.
    • In less than four days twenty-three men had paid their tuppences to Henery, who ’ad been made the seckitary.1909, W. W. Jacobs, “Prize Money,”, in Sailor's Knots
  2. (Ireland, UK, childish, euphemistic, slang, usually) The vulva or vagina.
    • "Fucksticks!" When some smart-arse bastard gives me my comeuppance / "Fucksticks!" When it’s ages since I’ve seen a lady’s tuppence2011, Kunt and the Gang, Fucksticks (song)
    • The lady confided to the nurse helping her up off the examination couch, and told her “He put his hand up me funnel and made me tuppence bleed!”2012, Richard Johns, Diagnosis of the Soul: The Long Road to the Beginning

Also used as

tuppence is also the ellipsis of tuppence worth.

Forms of tuppence

pluraltuppences

Origin of tuppence

By surface analysis, two + pence, collective plural of penny. Same for the definition: "Ellipsis of tuppence worth (“one’s opinion”)" however, this idiom is derived from this fact; in Britain it used to cost two pence ("tuppence") to post a letter, usually holding one's opinion.

Words formed from tuppence

  • don't give tuppence
  • not worth tuppence
  • penny plain and tuppence coloured
  • tuppence worth

Phrases with tuppence

Questions about tuppence

What does tuppence mean?
Tuppence means two pence (in pre- or post-decimalisation currency).
What part of speech is tuppence?
Tuppence is a noun.
How do you pronounce tuppence?
Tuppence is pronounced /ˈtʌp(ə)ns/ (UK).
What is the plural of tuppence?
The plural of tuppence is tuppences.

Words near tuppence in the dictionary

  1. Tupou
  2. Tupous
  3. tupp'orth
  4. Tuppal
  5. tupped
  6. tuppence
  7. tuppence worth
  8. tuppence worths
  9. tuppence-worth
  10. tuppence-worths
  11. tuppences

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: tuppence (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-tuppence.ogg.

Cite this entry: “tuppence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/tuppence. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.