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tuppence

[tuhp-uh ns]
noun British.
  1. twopence.
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Origin of tuppence

1505–15; earlier tuppens, reduction of twopence

twopence

or tup·pence

[tuhp-uh ns]
noun, plural two·pence, two·pen·ces for 2–4.
  1. (used with a singular or plural verb) British. a sum of two pennies.
  2. a bronze coin of the United Kingdom equal to two pennies: issued after decimalization in 1971.
  3. a former copper coin of Great Britain, equal to two pennies, issued under George III.
  4. a former silver coin of England, equal to two pennies: issued only as maundy money after 1662.
  5. a trifle.
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Origin of twopence

1400–50; late Middle English two pens; see two, pence
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for tuppence

Historical Examples

  • Swing on the tail-board by the strap and yell, ‘tuppence all the way.’

    Within the Tides

    Joseph Conrad

  • Please, sir,” said Tottie to the penny banker, “I wants to pay in tuppence.

    Post Haste

    R.M. Ballantyne

  • Sure I knew a lad in Ireland wance that fiddled for tuppence a night.

    The Chronicles of Rhoda

    Florence Tinsley Cox

  • I spent fourpence of that in bread and cheese, that on the table's the tuppence.

  • We shall have about tuppence a year, but Letty doesn't mind that.

    First Plays

    A. A. Milne

British Dictionary definitions for tuppence

tuppence

noun
  1. British a variant spelling of twopence
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twopence

tuppence

noun British
  1. the sum of two pennies
  2. (used with a negative) something of little value (in the phrase not care or give twopence)
  3. a former British silver coin, now only coined as Maundy money
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for tuppence

n.

mid-15c., to-pens, representing the common pronunciation of twopence (see two + pence).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper