tweeny

See also: tweenie

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtwiːni/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

Etymology 1

From 'tween +‎ -y.

Noun

tweeny (plural tweenies)

1. (tennis) A shot played between the legs; a tweener.
2. (now historical) A between-maid, or maidservant who helps the cook as well as the housemaid.
   • 1926, Ford Madox Ford, A Man Could Stand Up— (Parade's End), Penguin, published 2012, page 540:

     ‘You subscribed,’ Valentine said, ‘to purchase his library and presented it to his wife…who had nothing to eat but what my wages as a tweeny maid got for her.’

   • 2006, Thomas Pynchon, Against the Day, Vintage, published 2007, page 259:

     Madame Eskimoff's tweeny had brought out tea and a gâteau, as well as a twelve-year-old Speyside malt and glasses.

Etymology 2

From tween +‎ -y.

Adjective

tweeny (comparative tweenier or more tweeny, superlative tweeniest or most tweeny)

1. Characteristic of a typical tween (a child not quite old enough to be a teenager).
   • 2012 November 23, Andrew Hussie, Homestuck‎^[1]:

     throw the tweeniest, brattiest tantrum