English

Alternative forms

• tweer

Verb

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

1. (intransitive) To glance shyly or slyly; look askance; make eyes; leer; peer; pry.
   • Beaumont and Fletcher

     I saw the wench that twired and twinkled at thee.

   • Ben Jonson

     Which maids will twire 'tween their fingers.

2. (intransitive) To twinkle; sparkle; wink.
   • Shakespeare

     When sparkling stars twire not.

Noun

twire ‎(plural twires)

1. A sly glance; a leer.

Etymology 2

From Middle English *twir, *twirn, from Old English *twirn, *tweorn ‎(“twine, thread”), from Proto-Germanic *twiznaz ‎(“thread”), from Proto-Indo-European *duwo- ‎(“two”). Cognate with Dutch tweern ‎(“thread”), German Zwirn ‎(“thread, twine”), Old English twīn ‎(“twine”). More at twine.

Noun

twire ‎(plural twires)

1. A twisted filament; a thread.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of John Locke to this entry?)

Etymology 3

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.

Verb

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

1. (transitive) To twist; twirl.

Etymology 4

Variant of tuyere.

Noun

twire ‎(plural twires)

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