Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To move or rock lightly up and down or to and fro in an unsteady, jerky manner.
  • intransitive verb To cause to jiggle.
  • noun A jiggling motion.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To jerk or joggle slightly.
  • noun A slight joggle; a quick jiggling movement.
  • To practise affected or awkward motions; wriggle.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • intransitive verb To wriggle or frisk about; to move awkwardly; to shake up and down.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun a weak, shaking movement.
  • verb transitive To shake something gently; to rattle or wiggle.
  • verb intransitive To shake, rattle, or wiggle.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb move to and fro
  • noun a slight irregular shaking motion

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[ Frequentative of jig.]

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word jiggle.

Examples

  • But that's an argument as old as the term "jiggle TV" harking back to the original "Charlie's Angels" -- which, 35 years later, returns to ABC in an updated but no less jiggly version starring tough-but-tantalizing Annie Ilonzeh, Minka Kelly and Rachael Taylor.

    Boston.com Top Stories 2011

  • But that's an argument as old as the term "jiggle TV" harking back to the original "Charlie's Angels" -- which, 35 years later, returns to ABC in an updated but no less jiggly version starring tough-but-tantalizing Annie Ilonzeh, Minka Kelly and Rachael Taylor.

    unknown title 2011

  • Barbi Benton's been a Playboy icon (but surprisingly, no centerfolds), a regular on Hee Haw (I don't think there's been one Hee Haw article on this whole site), and part of an ABC show called Sugar Time, for which one critic coined the phrase jiggle tv.

    YesButNoButYes: Where Are They Now - Poster Girls of the 70's 2007

  • Mad Men knockoffs that Maureen Dowd describes as "jiggle TV," which is simply inaccurate.

    Slate Magazine Troy Patterson 2011

  • If I really wanted this kind of jiggle action I would go to the ballet.

    GeekGirl loves I don’t get 2010

  • I've also heard him use, I believe, Gigabyte to begin like the word "jiggle", not as I would say it, like "giggle".

    On IT regional dialects DC 2008

  • Over at mon autre blog I have an episode of Blansky's Beauties, the bomb Garry Marshall created for ABC in 1977 to get in on the "jiggle" craze, and one of the worst shows ever created by someone who had two top-ten hits on the air granted, there aren't many people who have had two top-ten hits at once.

    The Essential Garry Marshall Bomb Jaime J. Weinman 2008

  • I only wish I could have thought of a better word than "jiggle," which has an unfortunate connotation and of course rhymes with "giggle," which undercuts the sincerity of my post, f'shiggle.

    The one you might have saved Arbogast 2008

  • Over at mon autre blog I have an episode of Blansky's Beauties, the bomb Garry Marshall created for ABC in 1977 to get in on the "jiggle" craze, and one of the worst shows ever created by someone who had two top-ten hits on the air granted, there aren't many people who have had two top-ten hits at once.

    Archive 2008-10-01 Jaime J. Weinman 2008

  • I remember my father openning up the back of the TV set periodically to "jiggle" the tubes to get the set to work.

    the circle of [trash] life 2005

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.