fig2

 
Pronunciation: /fɪg/
informal

noun

(in phrase full fig)
  • smart clothes, especially those appropriate to a particular occasion or profession: a soldier walking up the street in full fig

verb (figs, figging, figged)

[with object] archaic
  • dress up (someone) to look smart: he was figged out as fine as fivepence, with white trousers and rings and chains

Origin:

late 17th century (as a verb): variant of obsolete feague 'liven up' (earlier 'whip'); perhaps related to German fegen 'sweep, thrash'; compare with fake1. An early sense of the verb was 'fill the head with nonsense'; later (early 19th century) 'cause (a horse) to be lively and carry its tail well (by applying ginger to its anus)'; hence 'smarten up'