betwixt and between

betwixt and between

Conflicted and unable to decide between two options. I'm betwixt and between about going back to school. I got a great scholarship offer, but I don't know that I want to juggle schoolwork and a full-time job.

See also: and, between

betwixt and between

 

1. Lit. between (people or things). I liked the soup and the dessert and all that came betwixt and between. I sat betwixt and between all the actors who weren't on stage.

2. Fig. undecided about someone or something. I wish she would choose. She has been betwixt and between for three weeks. Tom is so betwixt and between about getting married. I don't think he's ready.

See also: and, between

betwixt and between

Undecided, midway between two alternatives, neither here nor there. For example, I'm betwixt and between canceling my trip entirely or just postponing it, or Jane is betwixt and between about accepting the offer. The adverb betwixt, originally meaning "by two," is seldom heard except in this expression, first recorded in 1832.

See also: and, between

betwixt and between

neither one thing nor the other. informal

Betwixt is now poetic or archaic and is seldom found outside this phrase.

See also: and, between

beˌtwixt and beˈtween

(old-fashioned) in a middle position; neither one thing nor the other: He found himself placed betwixt and between in the debate, agreeing with parts of each side’s arguments.

See also: and, between

betwixt and between

In an intermediate position; neither wholly one thing nor another.

See also: and, between

betwixt and between

Neither here nor there, unresolved; halfway between two alternatives. Betwixt comes from Old English and originally meant “by two”; now considered archaic, it survives largely in this expression, which dates from the nineteenth century. An 1877 play by Besant and Rice (Son of Vulcan, 1.4) has it, “She’s the fool and he’s the knave, so it’s betwix and between.”

See also: and, between