sprig
noun
No English definition recorded for this entry.
L27985 on Wikidata ↗Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /spɹɪɡ/
noun
Etymology: From Middle English sprig, sprigge, of uncertain origin. Perhaps from Middle Low German sprik, spricke (“a dry, easily broken twig that has fallen from a tree; sprig”). Compare also dialectal English sprag (“sprig, twig”), English spray (“branch”), Old English spræc (“a shoot”), German Low German Spricke, Sprick (“dry branch, twig”).
- A small shoot or twig of a tree or other plant; a spray.
“a sprig of laurel or of parsley”
“[…] from this bush in the dooryard, / With delicate-color’d blossoms and heart-shaped leaves of rich green, / A sprig with its flower I break.”
- An ornament resembling a small shoot or twig.
- One of the separate pieces of lace fastened on a ground in applique lace.
- A youth; a lad.
“a sprig whom I remember, with a whey-face and a satchel, not so many years ago”
- A brad, or nail without a head.
- A small eyebolt ragged or barbed at the point.
- A house sparrow.
verb
Etymology: From Middle English sprig, sprigge, of uncertain origin. Perhaps from Middle Low German sprik, spricke (“a dry, easily broken twig that has fallen from a tree; sprig”). Compare also dialectal English sprag (“sprig, twig”), English spray (“branch”), Old English spræc (“a shoot”), German Low German Spricke, Sprick (“dry branch, twig”).
- To decorate with sprigs, or with representations of sprigs, as in embroidery or pottery.
- To nail the sole onto a shoe.