twig

¹

[twig]

noun

1. a slender shoot of a tree or other plant.

2. a small offshoot from a branch or stem.

3. a small, dry, woody piece fallen from a branch.

   a fire of twigs.

4. Anatomy.,  one of the minute branches of a blood vessel or nerve.

twig

²

[twig]

verb (used with object)

twigged, twigging 

1. to look at; observe.

   Now, twig the man climbing there, will you?

2. to see; perceive.

   Do you twig the difference in colors?

3. to understand.

verb (used without object)

twigged, twigging 

1. to understand.

twig

³

[twig]

noun

British Archaic.

1. style; fashion.

twig

¹

/ twɪɡ /

verb

1. to understand (something)

2. to find out or suddenly comprehend (something)

   he hasn't twigged yet

3. rare,  (tr) to perceive (something)

twig

²

/ twɪɡ /

noun

1. any small branch or shoot of a tree or other woody plant

2. something resembling this, esp a minute branch of a blood vessel

Other Word Forms

• twigless adjective
• twiglike adjective

Word History and Origins

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”; 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

Word History and Origins

Origin of twig¹

C18: perhaps from Gaelic tuig I understand

Origin of twig²

Old English twigge ; related to Old Norse dvika consisting of two, Old High German zwīg twig, Old Danish tvige fork

Example Sentences

Then a twig snapped, but the sound was swallowed by a distant roll of thunder.

Read more on Literature

Kathleen would fill the holes with rolled-up newspaper or twigs but they would always be on the floor by the morning.

Read more on BBC

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.

Read more on Salon

The chimp took a twig, bent and stripped it of its leaves, then he poked it into a termite's nest.

Read more on BBC

All of the carbon in the trees and twigs the machine ingests ends up in the ground — not back in the air.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• limb 
• sprig