twopence
Americannoun
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twopence,
plural
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twopences
plural
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(used with a singular or plural verb) a sum of two pennies.
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a bronze coin of the United Kingdom equal to two pennies: issued after decimalization in 1971.
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a former copper coin of Great Britain, equal to two pennies, issued under George III.
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a former silver coin of England, equal to two pennies: issued only as maundy money after 1662.
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a trifle.
noun
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the sum of two pennies
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(used with a negative) something of little value (in the phrase not care or give twopence )
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a former British silver coin, now only coined as Maundy money
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of twopence
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
I know the “real” scientists don’t give a twopence about Tenpenny’s claims.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 10, 2021
He bought it for twopence, and took it home to devour it, and it overwhelmed him.
From Time Magazine Archive
After the Depression it reduced its price from twopence to the vulgar level of the penny press in an attempt to restore circulation.
From Time Magazine Archive
He once offered to sell books at twopence a pound, any subject, any classification; he cleaned out his overstock.
From Time Magazine Archive
Children who seemed to have escaped evacuation ran about on the grass shouting and laughing, the band struggled with music beyond its capabilities, and deck chairs still cost twopence.
From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan
Though I dare say a pyramid of twopences wouldn't bother you, you old plutocrat.
From Poor Relations by MacKenzie, Compton
I was afraid it might be piling up the twopences.
From Poor Relations by MacKenzie, Compton
With pennies and twopences accumulated in this and similar ways he bought certain house-property behind Ham-and-Egg Terrace, paying a ground-rent to Edward Garden.
From Mushroom Town by Onions, Oliver
Ardiune, presiding 251 at the cauldron, mixed cups of cocoa as speedily as possible, and handed them out in exchange for twopences.
From The Madcap of the School by Salmon, Balliol
Some were broken; and the odd twopences and threepences, wanted to pay for their repairs, were required for the far sterner necessity of food.
From Mary Barton by Gaskell, Elizabeth Cleghorn
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
