fig

plural figs

1. The fruit of the fig tree, pear-shaped and containing many small seeds.First known use 12th c.
2. A fruit-bearing tree or shrub of the genus Ficus that is native mainly to the tropics.First known use 14th c.

   And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

   1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 3:7

3. The value of a fig, practically nothing; a fico; a whit.First known use 15th c.

   I'll pledge you all; and a fig for Peter!

   1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii]

   2 more examples

   About Rebecca and Jos he did not care a fig.

   1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 6, in Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC

   J. senses the entente between Eva and me and doesn't like it one fig.

   2004, David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas, London: Sceptre (Hodder and Stoughton), →ISBN

4. A Lady Finger banana, also known as the "fig banana", (cultivar of Musa acuminata)First known use 16th c.
5. NewfoundlanddatedA raisin (dried grape).First known use 18th c.

   figgy duff - boiled pudding with raisins

6. A small piece of tobacco.First known use 19th c.

   “You may flog, and welcome, master,” said he, “if you'll give me a fig o' tibbacky.”

   1874, Marcus Clarke, For the Term of His Natural Life, Penguin, published 2009, page 109

   1 more example

   This was followed by his presenting his sable acquaintance with a fig of tobacco, whereupon, instead of thanking the donor in the usual way, the black signified his gratitude by throwing a spear at twenty or thirty yards' distance.

   1887, Harriet W. Daly, Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern Territory of South Australia, page 289

7. A fico, a contemptuous gesture.

present singular third person figs · participle present figging · participle past figged · past figged

1. obsoleteTo insult with a fico, a contemptuous gesture.

   When Pistol lies, do this, and fig me like / The bragging Spaniard.

   c. 1596–1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, […]. Epilogue.”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iii]

2. obsoleteTo put into the head of, as something useless or contemptible.
3. datedsoap-makingTo develop, or cause (a soap) to develop, white streaks or granulations.First known use mid-1800s to mid-1900s

   In the cold soaps, the water soluble color is added in liquid form after saponification has started. In figged soaps, the color is crutched in after saponification is completed.

   1938, Harry Bennett, The Standard Book of Formulas

   2 more examples

   For filling figged soaps silicate of potash is best adapted, as soda prevents in a measure the proper crystallization. [...] Artificially figged soap [...makes] a very close imitation of the naturally figged soap.

   1893, Henry Gathmann, American Soaps, page 204

   Figging is usually considered to indicate a good quality of soft soap, but such is really not the case. A first-class soft soap can be made which will not fig, while, on the other hand, a poor soap can be produced which will fig.

   1897, The National Provisioner, page 27

present singular third person figs · participle present figging · participle past figged · past figged

1. intransitiveTo move suddenly or quickly; rove about.

plural figs · alternative fig.

1. abbreviationAbbreviation of figure (“diagram or illustration”).
2. colloquialdatedA person's figure; dress or appearance.

present singular third person figs · participle present figging · participle past figged · past figged

1. abbreviationAbbreviation of figure (“to calculate; to think; to come to understand”).
2. colloquialdatedtransitiveTo dress; to get oneself up a certain way.

present singular third person figs · participle present figging · participle past figged · past figged

1. raretransitiveTo insert a ginger root into the anus, vagina or urethra of (a horse): to perform figging upon; to feague, to feak.

   Ginger, a showy, fast horse — as if he had been figged with ginger under his tail; a red-haired man.

   1874, The Slang Dictionary: Etymological, Historical, and Anecdotal, page 176

   2 more examples

   He must be "figged." Figging consists in pushing a piece of crushed ginger into the return of the wretched creature — a practice which is now illegal, and of which information should be given to the R.S.P.C.A. whenever detected.

   1901, Natal Agriculture Journal, page 744

   “Is something amiss with the horse, Parr?” His gaze left the horse for a second as he glanced at Grace. “Yes, the horse has been figged. Now I just need to figure out who the culprit is.”

   2015, Becky Lower, The Cotillion Ball Saga, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN

   Synonyms: ginger

plural figs

1. The piece of ginger root used in figging.

1. The 95th sura (chapter) of the Qur'an.

   Synonyms: the Fig-tree

1. slangFigueroa Street (street in Los Angeles)