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  1. twig love

Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. n. A young shoot representing the current season's growth of a woody plant.
  2. n. Any small, leafless branch of a woody plant.
  3. v. To observe or notice.
  4. v. To understand or figure out: "The layman has twigged what the strategist twigged almost two decades ago” ( Manchester Guardian Weekly).
  5. v. To be or become aware of the situation; understand: "As Europe is now twigging, the best breeding ground for innovators who know how to do business is often big, competitive companies” ( Economist).
  6. n. Chiefly British The current style; the fashion.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. n. In anatomy, one of the minute branches of a blood-vessel.
  2. n. A small shoot of a tree or other plant; a small branch; a spray.
  3. n. A divining-rod.
  4. n. In ceramics, a thin strip of prepared clay used in modeling a pottery vessel, especially in the imitation basket work common in Leeds pottery.
  5. To switch; beat.
  6. To be vigorous or active; be energetic
  7. To twitch; jerk.
  8. n. A twitch; a jerk; a quick, sudden pull.
  9. To notice; observe narrowly; watch.
  10. To comprehend; understand; perceive; discover.
  11. To understand; see; “catch on.

Wiktionary

  1. n. A small thin branch of a tree or bush.
  2. v. transitive To beat with twigs.
  3. v. colloquial, regional To realise something; to 'catch on'.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. v. Obs. or Scot. To twitch; to pull; to tweak.
  2. v. colloq. To understand the meaning of; to comprehend; as, do you twig me?
  3. v. To observe slyly; also, to perceive; to discover.
  4. n. A small shoot or branch of a tree or other plant, of no definite length or size.
  5. v. To beat with twigs.

WordNet 3.0

  1. v. branch out in a twiglike manner
  2. n. a small branch or division of a branch (especially a terminal division); usually applied to branches of the current or preceding year
  3. v. understand, usually after some initial difficulty

Etymologies

  1. From Irish and Scots Gaelic tuig, "to understand" (Wiktionary)
  2. Middle English, from Old English twigge; see dwo- in Indo-European roots.Irish Gaelic tuigim, I understand, from Old Irish tuicim.Origin unknown. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)

Examples

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Lists

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Comments

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  • fbharjo that twiggered petite pulverized pumice. Pulverized pumice is crushed, clear crystals. Is that crystal clear? Nov 27, 2010

  • ruzuzu Usage example on sachets of lexicographical magic dust. Nov 27, 2010

  • yarb I twigged it, knew it; had had the gift, might readily have prophesied it--for when I clapped my eye upon his skull I saw it.

    - Melville, Moby-Dick, ch. 39 Jul 24, 2008

  • sionnach Irish slang: to understand, from the Gaelic verb "tuig", to understand Feb 23, 2007

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‘twig’ has been looked up 3090 times, loved by 2 people, added to 30 lists, commented on 4 times, and has a Scrabble score of 8.