Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- intransitive verb To turn or twist the body or a body part with writhing motions.
- intransitive verb To move or proceed with writhing motions.
- intransitive verb To move with a wriggling motion.
- intransitive verb To make (one's way, for example) by or as if by wriggling.
- noun A wriggling movement.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The motion of one who or that which wriggles; a quick twisting motion or contortion like that of a worm or an eel.
- noun Something showing the effect of wriggling or sinuous action; a sinuosity or contortion; a wrinkle.
- 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.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- intransitive verb To move the body to and fro with short, writhing motions, like a worm; to squirm; to twist uneasily or quickly about.
- transitive verb To move with short, quick contortions; to move by twisting and squirming; like a worm.
- noun Act of wriggling; a short or quick writhing motion or contortion.
- adjective obsolete Wriggling; frisky; pliant; flexible.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb intransitive To
slightly twist one'sbody andquickly move one'slimbs . - verb transitive To cause to or make something wriggle.
- noun A wriggling
movement .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb to move in a twisting or contorted motion, (especially when struggling)
- noun the act of wiggling
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Did even a phony like Randall Terry "wriggle" into the spotlight recently when he exploited the hapless Schiavo family?
Hullabaloo 2008
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Perhaps there are moments when the man has remembered his childish language, betrayed by his fondness for such words as 'wriggle', 'slither' and 'squish'.
Archive 2006-09-01 2006
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Perhaps there are moments when the man has remembered his childish language, betrayed by his fondness for such words as 'wriggle', 'slither' and 'squish'.
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Miss Bartlett gave a kind of wriggle, and he prepared for a discussion.
A Room with a View 1924
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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.
Hands 1919
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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.
Winesburg, Ohio: a Group of Tales of Ohio Small Town Life 1919
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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.
Winesburg, Ohio; a group of tales of Ohio small town life Sherwood Anderson 1908
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[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.
Arabian nights. English Anonymous 1855
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I feel a conviction that it is somehow connected with Glacial destruction, but I cannot "wriggle" comfortably at all on the subject.
More Letters of Charles Darwin — Volume 1 Charles Darwin 1845
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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.
abraxaszugzwang commented on the word wriggle
"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."
February 21, 2007
sonofgroucho commented on the word wriggle
Would "the act of wiggling" not be wiggle? Dontchathink "wriggle" has a writhing quality to it?
December 3, 2007
natalie_portmanteaux commented on the word wriggle
Wriggle, a portmanteau of writhe and wiggle.
March 27, 2023