Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To turn or twist the body with sinuous writhing motions; squirm.
- v. To proceed with writhing motions.
- v. To worm one's way into or out of a situation; insinuate or extricate oneself by sly or subtle means.
- v. To move with a wriggling motion: wriggle a toe.
- v. To make (one's way, for example) by or as if by wriggling: He wriggled his way into favor.
- n. A wriggling movement.
- n. A sinuous path, line, or marking.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To move sinuously; twist to and fro; writhe; squirm; wiggle.
- To move along sinuously, or by twisting and turning the body, as a snake, an eel, or a worm; hence, figuratively, to proceed by shifts and turns; make way by sinuous or crooked means: as, to wriggle out of a difficulty.
- To cause to wriggle; twist and shake slightly and quickly; effect by wriggling.
- n. The motion of one who or that which wriggles; a quick twisting motion or contortion like that of a worm or an eel.
- n. Something showing the effect of wriggling or sinuous action; a sinuosity or contortion; a wrinkle.
Wiktionary
- v. To slightly twist one's body and quickly move one's limbs.
- v. To cause to or make something wriggle.
- n. A wriggling movement.
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To move the body to and fro with short, writhing motions, like a worm; to squirm; to twist uneasily or quickly about.
- v. To move with short, quick contortions; to move by twisting and squirming; like a worm.
- adj. Wriggling; frisky; pliant; flexible.
- n. Act of wriggling; a short or quick writhing motion or contortion.
WordNet 3.0
- v. to move in a twisting or contorted motion, (especially when struggling)
- n. the act of wiggling
Etymologies
- Middle English wrigglen, perhaps from Middle Low German wriggeln; see wer-2 in Indo-European roots.
Examples
“Did even a phony like Randall Terry "wriggle" into the spotlight recently when he exploited the hapless Schiavo family?”
“Perhaps there are moments when the man has remembered his childish language, betrayed by his fondness for such words as 'wriggle', 'slither' and 'squish'.”
“Miss Bartlett gave a kind of wriggle, and he prepared for a discussion.”
“With a kind of wriggle, like a fish returned to the brook by the fisherman, Biddlebaum the silent began to talk, striving to put into words the ideas that had been accumulated by his mind during long years of silence.”
“[FN#44] We should call this walk of "Arab ladies" a waddle: I have never seen it in Europe except amongst the trading classes of Trieste, who have a "wriggle" of their own.”
“I feel a conviction that it is somehow connected with Glacial destruction, but I cannot "wriggle" comfortably at all on the subject.”
“This cam with plastic clamping plate design ensures smooth, torque-free clamping to eliminate movement or 'wriggle' during the clamping process, as well as ensuring that the clamping force cannot exceed set limits, which can be as high as 5,000N.”
“Wealthy nations reneging on emissions: China A GROUP of senior Chinese climate officials has lashed out at rich nations, accusing them of trying to "wriggle" out of their commitments to the developing world.”
“But it could deliver some immediate results in Afghanistan – and that might be a trade that an administration that wishes to wriggle away from a campaign promise to send more troops to Afghanistan might be willing to make.”
“Often the thrill of reading is to watch irrational people impose their emotional will on other characters, who must pluckily work to wriggle out from underneath it.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘wriggle’.
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movement (fast)
words describing fast action or movement
( randomness, descriptive )hurry, run, scamper, skip, stride, stampede, trample, scramble, dart, spring, spin, sprint and 140 more...
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movement (slow)
words describing slow action or movement
( randomness, descriptive )creep, crawl, plod, slouch, idle, lumber, tiptoe, bend, amble, mosey, saunter, loiter and 117 more...
sonofgroucho Would "the act of wiggling" not be wiggle? Dontchathink "wriggle" has a writhing quality to it? Dec 3, 2007
abraxaszugzwang "held under these smothering waves
by your strong and thick veined hand,
but one of these days I'm going to wriggle up on dry land." Feb 21, 2007