Fig

Fig , n. Figure; dress; array. [Colloq.]

Were they all in full fig, the females with feathers on their heads, the males with chapeaux bras?

Fig , v. t. [See Fico, Fig, n.]

1. To insult with a fico, or contemptuous motion. See Fico. [Obs.]

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

2. To put into the head of, as something useless o&?; contemptible. [Obs.] L'Estrange.

Fig (?), n. [F. figue the fruit of the tree, Pr. figa, fr. L. ficus fig tree, fig. Cf. Fico.]

1. (Bot.) A small fruit tree (Ficus Carica) with large leaves, known from the remotest antiquity. It was probably native from Syria westward to the Canary Islands.

2. The fruit of a fig tree, which is of round or oblong shape, and of various colors.

&fist; The fruit of a fig tree is really the hollow end of a stem, and bears numerous achenia inside the cavity. Many species have little, hard, inedible figs, and in only a few does the fruit become soft and pulpy. The fruit of the cultivated varieties is much prized in its fresh state, and also when dried or preserved. See Caprification.

3. A small piece of tobacco. [U.S.]

4. The value of a fig, practically nothing; a fico; -- used in scorn or contempt. "A fig for Peter." Shak.

Cochineal fig. See Conchineal fig. -- Fig dust, a preparation of fine oatmeal for feeding caged birds. -- Fig faun, one of a class of rural deities or monsters supposed to live on figs. "Therefore shall dragons dwell there with the fig fauns." Jer. i. 39. (Douay version). -- Fig gnat (Zoöl.), a small fly said to be injurious to figs. -- Fig leaf, the leaf tree; hence, in allusion to the first clothing of Adam and Eve (Genesis iii.7), a covering for a thing that ought to be concealed; esp., an inadequate covering; a symbol for affected modesty. -- Fig marigold (Bot.), the name of several plants of the genus Mesembryanthemum, some of which are prized for the brilliancy and beauty of their flowers. -- Fig tree (Bot.), any tree of the genus Ficus, but especially F. Carica which produces the fig of commerce.