Meanings
plural battle-twigs
- UKdialectalAn earwig
An' the wool of a thistle a-flyin' an' seeädin' tha haäted to see; 'Twur as bad as a battle-twig 'ere i' my oän blue chaumber to me.
1885, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, “The Spinster's Sweet-Arts”, in Tiresias, and Other Poems, page 1111 more example
1929 D. H. Lawrence, Up He Goes! (from Pansies) in The Complete Poems, page 553 https://books.google.com/books?id=dHB_YjKlyIgC&lpg=PA66&dq=%22battle-twig%22&pg=PA66#v=onepage&q=%22battle-twig%22&f=false There isn't a damn thing in 'em, They're as empty as empty tins; they haven't the spunk of a battle-twig, an' all they can think of is sins.
Cite this entry
battle-twig. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/battle-twig
“battle-twig.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/battle-twig. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “battle-twig,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/battle-twig.
Source: battle-twig on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.