twig
1 Americannoun
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a slender shoot of a tree or other plant.
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a small offshoot from a branch or stem.
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a small, dry, woody piece fallen from a branch.
a fire of twigs.
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Anatomy. one of the minute branches of a blood vessel or nerve.
verb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
noun
verb
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to understand (something)
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to find out or suddenly comprehend (something)
he hasn't twigged yet
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rare (tr) to perceive (something)
noun
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any small branch or shoot of a tree or other woody plant
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something resembling this, esp a minute branch of a blood vessel
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
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have twiggedperfect
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has twiggedperfect 3rd person singular
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has been twiggingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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am twiggingprogressive 1st person singular
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is twiggingprogressive 3rd person singular
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have been twiggingperfect progressive
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are twiggingprogressive
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twigssingular 3rd person
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twiggingparticiple
Past
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had twiggedperfect
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were twiggingprogressive plural
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had been twiggingperfect progressive
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was twiggingprogressive singular
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twiggedparticiple
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twiggedsimple
Future
Etymology
Origin of twig1
First recorded before 950; Middle English twig, twig(g)e; Old English twig, twigge, twī originally “(something) divided in two”; akin to Old High German zwīg ( German Zweig ), Dutch twijg; compare Sanskrit dvikás “double”; see origin at twi- ( def. )
Origin of twig2
First recorded in 1760–70; of uncertain origin; perhaps from Irish tuigim “I understand”
Origin of twig3
First recorded in 1805–15; origin uncertain
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.
Soon enough, trees everywhere were showing blotchy, mottled, yellowed leaves and suffering from twig dieback and sparse foliage.
From Slate • Apr. 20, 2026
I’m so curious with the twig and the hair and the blood and the bell — Is that a thing?
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 19, 2026
In 1960, during her first year at Gombe, Goodall observed a chimpanzee she called David Greybeard carefully strip a twig of leaves and use it to root out tasty termites from a mound.
From Salon • Oct. 1, 2025
He then used that stripped, bent twig to spoon the termites into his mouth.
From BBC • Oct. 1, 2025
He sat above the fire on a thick twig perch Deydey had fastened between the mortared stones.
From "The Birchbark House" by Louise Erdrich
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.
