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

transitive verb figged, figging fig′·ging

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

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