brig

plural brigs

1. nauticalA two-masted vessel, square-rigged on both foremast and mainmast.

   1 more example

   Dorey harbour is in a fine bay, at one extremity of which an elevated point juts out, and, with two or three small islands, forms a sheltered anchorage. The only vessel it contained when we arrived was a Dutch brig, laden with coals for the use of a war-steamer, which was expected daily, on an exploring expedition along the coasts of New Guinea, for the purpose of fixing on a locality for a colony.

   1869, Alfred Russel Wallace, The Malay Archipelago, volume II, London: Macmillan and Co., page 304

2. USA jail or guardhouse, especially in a naval military prison or jail on a ship, navy base, or (in fiction) spacecraft.

present singular third person brigs · participle present brigging · participle past brigged · past brigged

1. USdatedTo merely pretend to be occupied, to lollygag.
2. USdatedTo jail, to confine into the guardhouse.

plural brigs

1. Northern EnglandNorthern IrelandScotlandBridge.

   Now do thy speedy utmost, Meg, / And win the key-stane of the brig;

   1790, Robert Burns, Tam o' Shanter

plural brigs

1. Brigadier.

1. A district in Valais canton, Switzerland.
2. A town in Brig-Glis municipality, Valais canton, Switzerland.

   Synonyms: Brigue