twine

/twaɪn/

twine noun: a twist; a convolution. Also the alternative form of twin.

Noun

twine (countable and uncountable, plural twines)

A twist; a convolution.
- Not Typhon huge ending in ſnaky twine:1629, John Milton, “On the Morning of Christs Nativity”, in Poems of Mr. John Milton, […], London: […] Ruth Raworth for Humphrey Mosely, […], published 1646, →OCLC, page 11
A strong thread composed of two or three smaller threads or strands twisted together, and used for various purposes, as for binding small parcels, making nets, and the like; a small cord or string.
- The orioles like to build the framework of twine, and it is marvelous how they will loop this around a twig almost as evenly knotted as if crocheted[…]1911, Anna Botsford Comstock, Handbook of Nature Study, 24th edition, published 1939, pages 120–121
The act of twining or winding round.
- The Colewort's rankness, but with amorous twine / Clasps the tall Elm1708, [John Philips], “Book I”, in Cyder. […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 16
Intimate and suggestive dance gyrations.
- The way you jerk, the way you do the twine / You're too much, baby; I'd like to make you mine …1965, Wilson Pickett, Don't Fight It (blues song), BMI Music.

Verb

twine (third-person singular simple present twines, present participle twining, simple past and past participle twined)

(transitive) To weave together.

Synonyms:

betwine, entwine, intertwine, braid, entwist, interlace, interthread, intertwist, interweave, lace
(transitive) To wind, as one thread around another, or as any flexible substance around another body.
- Let me twine
  Mine arms about that body […]c. 1608–1609 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
- She was twining her fingers together.1931, Dashiell Hammett, chapter 10, in The Glass Key, New York: Vintage, published 1972, page 199
(transitive) To wind about; to embrace; to entwine.
- “Let wreaths of triumph now my temples twine,”
  The victor cried, “the glorious prize is mine! […]”1712 May, [Alexander Pope], “The Rape of the Locke. An Heroi-comical Poem.”, in Miscellaneous Poems and Translations. […], London: […] Bernard Lintott […], →OCLC, canto III
(intransitive) To mutually twist together; to become mutually involved; to intertwine.
- Usually some old crone was squatted on the earth floor, weaving cedar fibre or tatters of old cloth into a mat, her claw-like fingers twining in and out, in and out, among the strands that were fastened to a crude frame of sticks.1941, Emily Carr, chapter 1, in Klee Wyck
(intransitive) To wind; to bend; to make turns; to meander.
- As rivers, though they bend and twine,
  Still to the sea their course incline:1713, Jonathan Swift, Cadenus and Vanessa
(intransitive) To ascend in spiral lines about a support; to climb spirally.
- Many plants twine.
(obsolete) To turn round; to revolve.
- dancers twine midst cedar-fragrant glades1598, George Chapman, Hero and Leander
(obsolete) To change the direction of.
- For where he turned his sword, or twined his steed,
  He slew, or man and beast on earth down laid,1600, Torquato Tasso, translated by Edward Fairfax, Jerusalem Delivered, published 1581, Book 20, Stanza 38
(obsolete) To mingle; to mix.
- As lumpes of sugar loose themselues, and twine
  Their subtile essence with the soul of wine.1646, Richard Crashaw, M. Crashaw’s Answer for Hope, lines 29–30

Proper noun capitalized: Twine

Twine

A surname.

Also used as

twine is also the alternative form of twin.

twine meaning in Malayalam, Tagalog and Vietnamese

twine in Vietnamese

to wind, as one thread around another, or as any flexible substance around another body: quấn

Examples of twine in a sentence

The intact twine in Dylan's beef Wellington was a single point of failure.
The fasces were girt about with twine in bundles large.
Its staple productions are twine, fishing nets, and canvas, and much hemp for the purpose is grown."

All 19 example sentences with twine

Synonyms of twine

4 more synonymsFewer synonyms

All synonyms of twine

Forms of twine

Noun
plural	twines
alternative form	twyne
Verb
third-person singular present	twines
present participle	twining
past participle	twined
past	twined

Plural of twine: twines

Origin of twine

From Middle English twyn, twyne, twin, from Old English twīn (“double thread, twist, twine, linen-thread, linen”), from Proto-West Germanic *twiʀn (“thread, twine”), from Proto-Germanic *twiznaz, from Proto-Indo-European *dwisnós (“double”), from *dwóh₁ (“two”).

From Middle English twinen, twynen, from Old English *twīnian (“to twine, thread”), from Proto-Germanic *twiznōną (“to thread”), from Proto-Indo-European *dwisnós (“double”), from Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁ (“two”). Cognate with Dutch twijnen (“to twine, contort, throw”), Danish tvinde (“to twist”), Swedish tvinna (“to twist, twine, throw”), Icelandic tvinna (“to merge, twine”).

Words formed from twine

Phrases with twine

twine reelers

Words that rhyme with twine

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about twine

What does twine mean?: Twine means a twist; a convolution.
What is twine in Malayalam?: Twine in Malayalam is നൂല് (nūlŭ). See Twine meaning in Malayalam.
What part of speech is twine?: Twine can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce twine?: Twine is pronounced /twaɪn/.
What is the plural of twine?: The plural of twine is twines.

Words near twine in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: twine (page history and authors); Twine (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: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-twine.wav.

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