twig

Etymology 1

PIE word *dwóh₁ From Middle English twig, twyg, from Old English twiġ, from Proto-Germanic *twīgą (compare West Frisian twiich, Dutch twijg, German Zweig), from Proto-Indo-European *dweygʰom (compare Old Church Slavonic двигъ (dvigŭ, “branch”), Albanian degë (“branch”)), from *dwóh₁. More at two.

noun

1. A small thin branch of a tree or bush.
   They used twigs and leaves as a base to start the fire.
   A beech wood with silver firs in it rolled down the face of the hill, and the maze of leafless twigs and dusky spires cut sharp against the soft blueness of the evening sky. 1907, Harold Bindloss, chapter 1, in The Dust of Conflict

verb

1. (transitive) To beat with twigs.

Etymology 2

From Irish and Scottish Gaelic tuig (“to understand”).

verb

1. (colloquial, regional) To realise something; to catch on; to recognize someone or something.
   He hasn't twigged that we're planning a surprise party for him.
   I pray you now send me some dub, / A bottle or two to the needy. / I beg you won't bring it yourself, / The harman is at the Old-Bailey; / I'd rather you'd send it behalf, / For, if they twig you they'll nail you. 1765, “A Song in High Life”, in The Merry Medley, volume 1, London: W. Hoggard, page 35
   I twigged him at once, by the description you gave me. I never see a cove togged out as he was,—tall hat, light sit-down-upons, and a short coat—wasn't it cut short! but in really bang-up style. 1915, “Putting on the Screw”, in Caught in the Net, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, translation of Les Esclaves de Paris by Émile Gaboriau, page 23
   Well, with fewer people doing two or three times the work, you may have already twigged to this. 2012-05-30, John E. McIntyre, “A future for copy editors”, in Baltimore Sun, archived from the original on 2013-06-23
   At this point in our story, we first meet the fleet repair ship Kamchatka, who everyone would soon become regrettably familiar with. Her entry into our account here was her signal that she was under attack by torpedo boats! When she was asked how many, she replied "about eight, from all directions!". Eventually, someone twigged to the fact that absolutely nobody else could see so much as a seagull, let alone any exceptionally-lost Japanese torpedo boats. And, when nothing actually happened, Kamchatka refused to say that it was a false alarm, only that it had altered course and the torpedo boats had gone away. 13 March 2019, Drachinifel, 18:23 from the start, in The Russian 2nd Pacific Squadron - Voyage of the Damned, archived from the original on 2023-01-29
2. To understand the meaning of (a person); to comprehend.
   Do you twig me?
3. To observe slyly; also, to perceive; to discover.
   Now twig him; now mind him: mark how he hawls his muscles about. 1763, Samuel Foote, The Mayor of Garratt, act 2
   This excellent man appears to have sunk into himself in a sitting posture, […] while his exceedingly homely and wrinkled face, held a little on one side, twinkles at you with the shrewdest complacency, as if he were looking right into your eyes and twigged something there which you had half a mind to conceal from him. 1863, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Our Old Home

Etymology 3

Compare tweak.

verb

1. (obsolete, Scotland) To pull
   Frank shall twig your Nose from your Face 1755, John Shebbeare, Lydia: Or, Filial Piety
2. To twitch;
3. To tweak.