- Between you and me
- Between Be*tween", prep. [OE. bytwene, bitweonen, AS.
betwe['o]nan, betwe['o]num; prefix be- by + a form fr. AS.
tw[=a] 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.
[1913 Webster]
2. Used in expressing motion from one body or place to another; from one to another of two. [1913 Webster]
If things should go so between them. --Bacon. [1913 Webster]
3. Belonging in common to two; shared by both. [1913 Webster]
Castor and Pollux with only one soul between them. --Locke. [1913 Webster]
4. Belonging to, or participated in by, two, and involving reciprocal action or affecting their mutual relation; as, opposition between science and religion. [1913 Webster]
An intestine struggle, open or secret, between authority and liberty. --Hume. [1913 Webster]
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. [1913 Webster]
6. In intermediate relation to, in respect to time, quantity, or degree; as, between nine and ten o'clock. [1913 Webster]
{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. [1913 Webster]
Syn: {Between}, {Among}.
Usage: 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. [1913 Webster] 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. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.
