twire

T1W4I1R1E1
/ˈtwaɪə(ɹ)/

verb

To glance shyly or slyly; look askance; make eyes; leer; peer; pry.

OriginMiddle English twiren →
Scrabble 8
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Meanings

twire1

verbtwire (third-person singular simple present twires, present participle twiring, simple past and past participle twired)

present singular third person twires · participle present twiring · participle past twired · past twired · alternative tweer

  1. intransitiveTo glance shyly or slyly; look askance; make eyes; leer; peer; pry.

    Which maids will twire at 'tween their fingers.

    c. 1637, Ben Jonson, The Sad Shepherd
    1 more example

    I saw the wench that twired and twinkled at thee.

    c. 1619–1623, John Fletcher, “Women Pleas’d”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1647, →OCLC, Act IV, scene i
  2. intransitiveTo twinkle; sparkle; wink.

    When sparkling stars twire not, thou gild'st the even.

    1609, William Shakespeare, “Sonnet 28”, in Shake-speares Sonnets. […], London: By G[eorge] Eld for T[homas] T[horpe] and are to be sold by William Aspley, →OCLC
nountwire (plural twires)

plural twires · alternative tweer

  1. A sly glance; a leer.

twire2

nountwire (plural twires)

plural twires

  1. A twisted filament; a thread.

    they put the cocons in hot water, and so stirring them about with a kind of rod, the ends of the silk twires of the cocons stick to it

    1766, John Locke, Observations Upon The Growth And Culture Of Vines And Olives […]

twire3

verbtwire (third-person singular simple present twires, present participle twiring, simple past and past participle twired)

present singular third person twires · participle present twiring · participle past twired · past twired

  1. transitiveTo twist; twirl.

twire4

nountwire (plural twires)

plural twires

  1. obsoleteA pipe through which the blast is delivered to the interior of a blast furnace, or to the fire of a forge; a tuyere.

Origin

twire · verb, noun

  1. Middle Englishtwiren“to peep out, pry about, twinkle, glance, gleam”
  2. Englishtwire

From Middle English twiren (“to peep out, pry about, twinkle, glance, gleam”), cognate with Middle High German zwieren (“to spy”), Bavarian zwiren, zwieren (“to spy, glance”). Perhaps related to Old English twinclian (“to twinkle”). More at twinkle.

More words from Middle English

Full word history & related roots →

twire · noun

  1. Proto-Indo-European*duwo-“two”
  2. Proto-West Germanic*twiʀn“thread”
  3. Old English*twirn
  4. Middle English*twir
  5. Englishtwire

From Middle English *twir, *twirn, twern, from Old English *twirn, *tweorn (“twine, thread”), from Proto-West Germanic *twiʀn (“thread”), from Proto-Indo-European *duwo- (“two”). Doublet of twine.

More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic

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twire · verb

  1. Proto-Indo-European*twer-“to turn, twirl, swirl, move”
  2. Proto-Germanic*þweraną“to stir”
  3. Old Englishþweran“to stir”
  4. Middle English*tweren
  5. Englishtwire

Perhaps from a dialectal form of *twere, from Middle English *tweren, from Old English þweran (“to stir”) (found in compound āþweran (“to agitate, stir”)), from Proto-Germanic *þweraną (“to stir”), from Proto-Indo-European *twer- (“to turn, twirl, swirl, move”). Cognate with Bavarian zweren (“to stir”). Compare twirk, twirl.

More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-Germanic

Full word history & related roots →

twire · noun

Variant of tuyere.

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

write
Cite this entry
APA

twire. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/twire

MLA

“twire.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/twire. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “twire,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/twire.

Source: twire on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.