twig

[twig]

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noun

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.

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

Origin of twig

before 950; Middle English; Old English twig, twigge, orig. (something) divided in two; akin to Old High German zwīg (German Zweig), Dutch twijg; compare Sanskrit dvikás double

Related formstwig·less, adjectivetwig·like, adjective

twig

[twig]British

verb (used with object), twigged, twig·ging.

to look at; observe: Now, twig the man climbing there, will you?

to see; perceive: Do you twig the difference in colors?

to understand.

verb (used without object), twigged, twig·ging.

to understand.

Origin of twig

1755–65; < Irish tuigim I understand, with English w reflecting the offglide before i of the velarized Irish t typical of southern Ireland; cf. dig²

twig

[twig]

noun British.

style; fashion.

Origin of twig

First recorded in 1805–15; origin uncertain

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for twig

limb, sprig, shoot, scion, spray, switch, branch, offshoot

Examples from the Web for twig

Contemporary Examples of twig

Suddenly, we hear the sound of a twig cracking; all three men look around anxiously, particularly JASON.
Who Killed the Horror Film?
Tom Shone
March 13, 2009

Historical Examples of twig

Close on our right a twig snapped and I began to gather myself for the spring.
The Trail Book
Mary Austin
Not a sound disturbed the oppressive quiet, not the quiver of a twig.
A Woman Tenderfoot
Grace Gallatin Seton-Thompson
Was it his imagination, or did a branch snap, a twig rustle down the road?
The Green Satin Gown
Laura E. Richards
The painter would not depict every twig, as would the naturalist.
The Forest
Stewart Edward White
At first they could not break it, but when they took it twig by twig they broke it easily.
Master and Man
Leo Tolstoy

British Dictionary definitions for twig

twig

noun

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

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

Derived Formstwiglike, adjective

Word Origin for twig

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

twig

verb twigs, twigging or twigged British informal

to understand (something)

to find out or suddenly comprehend (something)he hasn't twigged yet

(tr) rare to perceive (something)

Word Origin for twig

C18: perhaps from Gaelic tuig I understand

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for twig

Old English twigge, from Proto-Germanic *twigan (cf. Middle Dutch twijch, Dutch twijg, Old High German zwig, German Zweig "branch, twig"), from the root of twi- (see twin), here meaning "forked" (as in Old English twisel "fork, point of division").