twice

[[t]twa͟ɪs[/t]]

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1) ADV: ADV with v, ADV adv, ADV n If something happens twice, there are two actions or events of the same kind.

He visited me twice that fall and called me on the telephone often...

The government has twice declined to back the scheme...

Thoroughly brush teeth and gums twice daily...

Twice before he had been in New York with Gladys on summer vacations.

...Foster, who is twice the world champion.

2) ADV: ADV a n You use twice in expressions such as twice a day and twice a week to indicate that two events or actions of the same kind happen in each day or week.

I phoned twice a day, leaving messages with his wife...

This famous horse race has taken place here twice a year since 1310.

3) ADV: ADV as adj/adv If one thing is, for example, twice as big or old as another, the first thing is two times as big or old as the second. People sometimes say that one thing is twice as good or hard as another when they want to emphasize that the first thing is much better or harder than the second.

The figure of seventy-million pounds was twice as big as expected.

...a report claiming that teachers could be twice as effective if they returned to traditional classroom methods.

PREDET: PREDET the n

Twice is also a predeterminer.

Unemployment in Northern Ireland is twice the national average... Double cream contains approximately twice the quantity of fat-soluble vitamins as single cream.

4) PHRASE: V inflects If you think twice about doing something, you consider it again and decide not to do it, or decide to do it differently.

She'd better shut her mouth and from now on think twice before saying stupid things.

5) once or twice → see once

twice over → see over