between

1. 1
   in the middlepreposition

   In the position or interval separating two things, or intermediate in amount or degree.

   The village lies between the river and the hills.

   Temperatures will be between ten and fifteen degrees.

   UsageJoin the two ends with and: between ten and fifteen (not incorrect: between ten to fifteen).

   Note

   Shakespeare clips it to 'tween ('just distance 'tween our armies'). The object can also drop away entirely, leaving the word at the end of a phrase, as when Besant's lawyer 'made scratches for all the words between.' Used this way it means 'in the gap' on its own. Source

   Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

   • Shakespeare uses the shortened form 'tween in the quoted phrase; Westmoreland speaks it in Henry IV, Part 2. folger.edu
   • Walter Besant's narrator describes the lawyer Mr. Dering using the exact phrase 'made scratches for all the words between'. gutenberg.org
2. 2
   each otherpreposition

   Done together, shared, or exchanged by two or more parties, each taking part individually, as in an agreement between three countries.

   There is an agreement between the two companies.

   Trust between doctor and patient takes time.

   UsageFine with more than two parties when each deals with the others: talks between three countries.

   Note

   A gap turned into a bond: what separates in the spatial sense here joins. A conversation, an agreement or a moment of contact between two parties belongs to both at once. The relation can even hold between objects, as with the clashing furniture in George Goodchild's Death on the Centre Court (1935). Source

   Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

   • George Goodchild wrote Death on the Centre Court, first published in 1935. en.wikipedia.org
   • The book describes clashing furniture using 'between' to express a relation between objects. en.wiktionary.org
3. 3
   preposition

   Marking a choice or a distinction among alternatives.

   It was a choice between the train and the bus.

   Few can tell the difference between the two wines.

   UsageCommon in choose between, decide between and the difference between A and B; the options can number more than two.

   Note

   The alternatives sit on either side of 'and,' and the chooser stands in the gap of the spatial sense. Torn between and caught between make that picture explicit.

4. 4
   preposition

   Traveling or running from one place to another, or linking two places.

   The ferry sails between the islands twice a day.

   A high-speed rail line between the two cities would cut the trip to under an hour.

   UsageName route endpoints with between A and B: a shuttle between the town and the airport.

   Note

   Here the gap is crossed rather than occupied. A shuttle or ferry running between two places connects them, and the same back-and-forth motion covers flipping channels between two broadcasts.

5. 5
   jointlypreposition

   Through the combined effort, ownership, or effect of two or more people or things taken together.

   Between them the children ate the whole cake.

   The three of us have one car between us.

   UsageUsually between us, between them or between the three of us, at the end of the clause or the start.

   Note

   Pooling is the idea. 'We've only got £5 between us' means our combined total, and 'between us all, we shall succeed' means our joint effort. What gets pooled need not be people: 'between the leaky taps and the peeling wallpaper' sums up a house's faults, adding causes together the same way.

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