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

• twiglike adjective
• twigless 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

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

Jim Rainbow, 48, a Susanville, Calif., mortician, tangled in the rigging and the twigs, is here with his wife for their 10th anniversary.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

For the brown hairstreak, both charities rely on volunteers going out in the middle of winter to look for tiny, pinhead-sized eggs on twigs using magnifying glasses.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• limb 
• sprig