fig Hear it!

fig¹ Definition

fig (fig)

noun

  1. the hollow, pear-shaped false fruit (syconium) of the fig tree, with sweet, pulpy flesh containing numerous tiny, seedlike true fruits (achenes)
  2. any of a genus (Ficus) of fig-bearing trees of the mulberry family, esp. any of the many cultivated varieties of a tree (F. carica) bearing edible figs
  3. a trifling amount; little bit not worth a fig
  4. a gesture of contempt or disdain made as by placing the thumb between the first two fingers or under the upper teeth

Etymology: ME fige < OFr < VL *fica, for L ficus, fig tree, fig

fig² Definition

fig (fig)

transitive verb figged, fig′·ging

to dress showily: with out or up

Etymology: altered < obs. feague, to whip, polish; confused with the contr. for figure, prob. from the use of this contracted form in reference to plates in books of fashions

noun

  1. dress; appearance
  2. shape; condition

fig² Idioms

in full fig

Informal completely dressed or outfitted, esp. in a showy manner

fig³ Definition

fig

  1. figurative
  2. figuratively
  3. figure(s)

fig Usage Examples

Object

  • comparison: Fig 7.5 Direct comparisons can be made to previous surveys of the whole Force, which asked the same question.

Converse of object

  • dry: Arrange the dried figs in a row on top.
  • see: Clifton represented some of his data graphically, see Figs.
  • eat: It is said that when old people eat figs frequently, their wrinkled skin fills out.
  • give: It does not give a fig for the vast majority who oppose an attack on Iraq.
  • care: I don't care a fig about whether you pronounce in favor of this or that book, film or record.
  • add: Add the figs to the remaining honey mixture in the saucepan.

Adjective modifier

  • ripe: That heart now threatens, like the ripe fig he grows on the Tyne, to overwhelm his work with sweetness.
  • fresh: Fresh Figs with Honey Sauce BBQ recipe There are many varieties of fresh figs.
  • wild: The blackthorn, wild fig, trembling aspen, and other ' crossed ' wood are avoided.
  • green: Parma ham, delicious with green figs, is also good for providing instant energy.

Modifies a noun

  • leaf: Nowadays, the fig leaf is no longer displayed on the David.
  • wasp: One of the most amazing of these stories of total interdependence is the life history of the fig tree and the fig wasp.
  • 1b: Fig 1b shows the final position of the snake when convergence is complete.
  • tree: Read More... The Church in Emerging Culture We have a fig tree growing outside our church, just by the the main entrance.
  • roll: Arriving police were offered a choice of grapes, fig rolls, grape juice or wine.
  • fruit: Types: coniferous and dicotyledonous wood, including willow / poplar ( Salicaceae ), fig fruit, Gramineae, cereal grains including einkorn.

Noun used with modifier

  • strangler: It's not a snake or spider, but the strangler fig tree.

Preposition: of

  • thistle: Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?

Preposition: from

  • thistle: Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles?
fig Quotes

But beside it I have planted a green Bay-tree, öA sweet Bay, an Olive, and aTurkey Fig, öA Fig, an Olive, and a Bay.

—Bethell, (Mary) Ursula

They called aloud 'Our Sieve ain't big, But we don't care a button! We don't care a fig!'

—Lear, Edward

A fig for those by law protected! Liberty's a glorious feast! Courts for Cowards were erected, Churches built to please the Priest.

—Burns, Robert

Fig leaves of democratic procedure to hide the nakedness of Stalinist dictatorship.

—Kennan, George Frost

I saw my life branching out before me like the green fig- tree in the story. From the tip of every branch, like a fat purple fig, a wonderful future beckoned and winked.One fig was a husband and a happy home and children, and another fig was a famous poet†I saw myself sitting in the crotch of this fig-tree, starving to death, just because I couldn't make up my mind which of the figs I would choose. I wanted each and every one of them, but choosing one meant losing all the rest, and, as I sat there, unable to decide, the figs began to wrinkle and go black, and, one by one, they plopped to the ground at my feet.

—Plath, Sylvia

And when the woman saw that the tree wasgood for food, and that it waspleasanttothe eyes,and atreetobe desired to make one wise she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also to her husband with her; and he did eat. And the eyes of them bothwere opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. And they heard the voice of the L God walking inthegarden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the L God amongst the trees of the garden.

—Bible (Old Testament)