Adjacent Words

Twig definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

TWIG, n. [L. vigeo, with a prefix.] A small shoot or branch of a tree or other plant, of no definite length or size.
The Britons had boats made of willow twigs, covered on the outside with hides.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a small branch or division of a branch (especially a terminal division); usually applied to branches of the current or preceding year [syn: branchlet, twig, sprig] v
1: branch out in a twiglike manner; "The lightning bolt twigged in several directions"
2: understand, usually after some initial difficulty; "She didn't know what her classmates were plotting but finally caught on" [syn: catch on, get wise, get onto, tumble, latch on, cotton on, twig, get it]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English twigge, from Old English; akin to Old High German zw?g twig, Old English tw? two Date: before 12th century 1. a small shoot or branch usually without its leaves 2. a minute branch of a nerve or artery • twigged adjective • twiggy adjective II. verb (twigged; twigging) Etymology: perhaps from Irish & Scottish Gaelic tuig- understand Date: 1764 transitive verb 1. notice, observe 2. to understand the meaning of ; comprehend intransitive verb to gain a grasp ; understand <twigged instinctively about things — H. E. Bates> III. noun Etymology: origin unknown Date: circa 1811 British fashion, style

Oxford Reference Dictionary

1. n. 1 a small branch or shoot of a tree or shrub. 2 Anat. a small branch of an artery etc. Derivatives: twigged adj. (also in comb.). twiggy adj. Etymology: OE twigge f. a Gmc root twi- (unrecorded) as in TWICE, TWO 2. v.tr. (twigged, twigging) colloq. 1 (also absol.) understand; grasp the meaning or nature of. 2 perceive, observe. Etymology: 18th c.: orig. unkn.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Twig Twig, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Twigged; p. pr. & vb. n. Twigging.] [Cf. Tweak.] To twitch; to pull; to tweak. [Obs. or Scot.]

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Twig Twig, v. t. [Gael. tuig, or Ir. tuigim I understand.] 1. To understand the meaning of; to comprehend; as, do you twig me? [Colloq.] --Marryat. 2. To observe slyly; also, to perceive; to discover. ``Now twig him; now mind him.'' --Foote. As if he were looking right into your eyes and twigged something there which you had half a mind to conceal. --Hawthorne.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Twig Twig, n. [AS. twig; akin to D. twijg, OHG. zwig, zwi, G. zweig, and probably to E. two.] A small shoot or branch of a tree or other plant, of no definite length or size. The Britons had boats made of willow twigs, covered on the outside with hides. --Sir T. Raleigh. Twig borer (Zo["o]l.), any one of several species of small beetles which bore into twigs of shrubs and trees, as the apple-tree twig borer (Amphicerus bicaudatus). Twig girdler. (Zo["o]l.) See Girdler, 3. Twig rush (Bot.), any rushlike plant of the genus Cladium having hard, and sometimes prickly-edged, leaves or stalks. See Saw grass, under Saw.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Twig Twig, v. t. To beat with twigs.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(twigs, twigging, twigged) 1. A twig is a very small thin branch that grows out from a main branch of a tree or bush. N-COUNT 2. If you twig, you suddenly realize or understand something. (INFORMAL) Then I twigged that they were illegal immigrants... By the time she'd twigged what it was all about it was too late. VERB: V that, V wh, also V

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. Shoot, sprig, spray, branch.

1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue

To observe. Twig the cull, he is peery; observe the fellow, he is watching us. Also to disengage, snap asunder, or break off. To twig the darbies; to knock off the irons.

Moby Thesaurus

accept, appendage, arm, bine, bough, branch, branchedness, branchiness, burgeon, catch, catch on, comprehend, craze, cry, deadwood, descry, dig, discern, distinguish, divine, espy, fad, fathom, flagellum, fork, frond, furore, get, grasp, hand, imp, joint, know, leg, limb, link, lobe, lobule, mark, member, mode, note, notice, observe, offshoot, organ, perceive, pinion, rage, ramage, ramification, rumble, runner, sapling, sarment, scion, see, seedling, sense, set, shoot, slip, spear, spray, sprig, sprit, sprout, spur, stem, stick, stolon, style, sucker, switch, tail, take, take in, tendril, thallus, tumble to, understand, vogue, wing