twig
1 Americannoun
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a slender shoot of a tree or other plant.
-
a small offshoot from a branch or stem.
-
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)
-
twigs,
present (3rd person singular)
-
twigged,
past participle, past
-
twigging
present participle
verb (used without object)
-
twigs,
present (3rd person singular)
-
twigged,
past participle, past
-
twigging
present participle
noun
verb
-
to understand (something)
-
to find out or suddenly comprehend (something)
he hasn't twigged yet
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rare (tr) to perceive (something)
noun
-
any small branch or shoot of a tree or other woody plant
-
something resembling this, esp a minute branch of a blood vessel
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
twigsimple
-
twigssimple
-
have twiggedperfect
-
has twiggedperfect
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am twiggingprogressive
-
are twiggingprogressive
-
is twiggingprogressive
-
have been twiggingperfect progressive
-
has been twiggingperfect progressive
Past
-
twiggedsimple
-
had twiggedperfect
-
was twiggingprogressive
-
were twiggingprogressive
-
had been twiggingperfect progressive
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.
See Examples For:
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
De la O would be awake for two hours, straining his ears, alert for any sounds of someone creeping toward them—a snapped twig, the sound of fabric brushing against a plant.
From "Boots on the Ground: America's War in Vietnam" by Elizabeth Partridge
LaBeouf, who had an off-and-on relationship with Goth since their marriage, began dating FKA twigs, legal name Tahliah Barnett, in 2018.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026
The “Odyssey” actor filed her petition a day after LaBeouf’s ex-girlfriend FKA twigs brought her latest lawsuit against the former Disney Channel star to a close.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026
Some create burrows in the ground, others use cavities in wood such as tree hollows or fallen branches, and some nest inside plant stems or small existing holes in twigs.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 18, 2026
In Vietnam, herons cast twigs in ponds like fly-fishermen to lure prey.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026
He could gather twigs and start a fire.
From "Earthquake Terror" by Peg Kehret
Although nobody twigged at the time, she was in fact hinting that she was pregnant with her second child.
From BBC ● Feb. 12, 2023
"Nobody should be watching those press conferences!" she said emphatically, when she twigged to what I'd been up to.
From Salon ● Apr. 24, 2020
Then, eventually, they twigged that we were interested in biodiversity, flora, and fauna, and people started coming in with chameleons.
From The Verge ● Aug. 28, 2018
“Everyone had their own moment when they first twigged that this wasn’t like the BBC,” he says.
From The Guardian ● Nov. 29, 2017
If Pamela really is the culprit, the evidence was right in front of us, and nobody twigged to it.
From "Linked" by Gordon Korman
She was touched but alarmed, and decided that she would better hasten the wedding if only to put a stop to this indiscriminate twigging.
From Why Joan? by Eleanor Mercein Kelly
He began at once, following the example of the birds about him, to prepare for the coming event; "twigging" as Joan called it to herself, amusedly.
From Why Joan? by Eleanor Mercein Kelly
You couldn't talk friendly to him without twigging that.
From Mrs. Thompson A Novel by W. B. (William Babington) Maxwell
Big Bob was no less inquisitive than the others, despite his twigging of Frank for his curiosity.
From The Radio Boys Rescue the Lost Alaska Expedition by Gerald Breckenridge
He and Bob knew they would be in for a certain amount of twigging because of their defeat, but he knew how to take it in good part.
From The Radio Boys with the Revenue Guards by Gerald Breckenridge
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.
