two

two [tu:] number

[: Old English; Origin: twa]

1.) the number 2

▪ I'll be away for almost two weeks.

▪ We have to be there by two (=two o'clock) .

▪ His family moved to Australia when he was two (=two years old) .

2.) in twos

in groups of two people or things

▪ I'd like you to line up in twos, please.

→↑twosome

3.) put two and two together

to guess the meaning of something you have heard or seen

▪ I saw him leaving her house and I put two and two together.

4.) that makes two of us

spoken used to tell someone that you are in the same situation and feel the same way

▪ 'But I don't know anything about children!' 'Well, that makes two of us.'

5.) two can play at that game

spoken used to tell someone that they will not have an advantage over you by doing something because you can do it too

6.) a year/a week/a moment/an hour etc or two

spoken one or a few years, weeks etc

7.) two sides of the same coin

used to talk about two ways of looking at the same situation

8.) two heads are better than one

used to say that two people are more likely to solve a problem or think or an idea than one person working alone

9.) be in two minds (about sth)

BrE be of two minds (about sth) AmE to be unable to decide what to do, or what you think about something

▪ I was in two minds about whether to go with him.

10.) two cents (worth)

AmE informal your opinion or what you want to say about a subject

▪ Everyone had to put in their two cents worth.

11.) two's company, three's a crowd

used to say that it is better to leave two people alone to spend time with each other

→don't care two hoots at ↑hoot¹ (5)

→two/three etc of a kind at ↑kind¹ (5)

→be two/ten a penny at ↑penny

→in ones and twos at ↑one¹ (3)

→it takes two to tango at ↑tango² (2)

→kill two birds with one stone at ↑kill¹ (13)

→no two ways about it at ↑way¹ (54)

→fall between two stools at ↑fall¹ (32)