Twig

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɪɡ

Old English twigge, from Proto-Germanic *twīgą (compare West Frisian twiich, Dutch twijg, German Zweig), from Proto-Indo-European *dwigha (compare Old Church Slavonic (dvigŭ, "branch"), Albanian degë 'id.'), from *dwó 'two'. More at two.

Noun

1. A small thin branch of a tree or bush.They used twigs and leaves as a base to start the fire.
• 1907, w, The Dust of Conflict Chapter 1, A beech wood with silver firs in it rolled down the face of the hill, and the maze of leafless twigs and dusky spires cut sharp against the soft blueness of the evening sky.

Derived terms

• off one's twig

Full definition of twig

Verb

1. (transitive) To beat with twigs.

From Irish and Scottish Gaelic tuig ("to understand").

Verb

1. (colloquial, regional) To realise something; to catch on.
• He hasn't twigged that we're planning a surprise party for him.
• , 2012-05-30, John E. McIntyre, A future for copy editors, Well, with fewer people doing two or three times the work, you may have already twigged to this.
2. To understand the meaning of (a person); to comprehend.Do you twig me?
3. To observe slyly; also, to perceive; to discover.
• FooteNow twig him; now mind him.
• Hawthorneas if he were looking right into your eyes and twigged something there which you had half a mind to conceal

Compare tweak.

Verb

1. (obsolete, Scotland) To twitch; to pull; to tweak.