Definitions

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

  • intransitive verb To move (an attached part, for example) with short, quick motions.
  • intransitive verb To move shakily; wobble.
  • noun A wobbling motion.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To move with a wagging motion; sway or move from side to side; wag.
  • To cause to wag frequently and with short motions; move first one way and then the other.
  • To whip; beat; overcome; get the better of.
  • noun A sudden, short movement first to one side and then to the other; a wagging.

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

  • intransitive verb To reel, sway, or move from side to side; to move with a wagging motion; to waddle.
  • transitive verb To move frequently one way and the other; to wag.
  • noun (Golf) A waggling or wagging

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

  • verb To move (something) with short, quick motions; to wobble.
  • noun a wobbling motion

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

  • verb move from side to side
  • noun causing to move repeatedly from side to side
  • verb move unsteadily or with a weaving or rolling motion

Etymologies

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

[Middle English wagelen, frequentative of waggen; see wag.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Frequentative form of wag. Compare continental equivalents Middle High German wacken ( > Danish vakle, German wackeln), Swedish vagla, West Frisian waggelje, Dutch waggelen.

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Examples

  • "The waggle is a practice of the takeaway of the backswing,"

    USATODAY.com - Waggle fails to work for Garcia in final round 2001

  • JAY: Right because we heard some of the guys who do service San Francisco, the city itself, and they occasionally talk about the occasional person they see, and they do a little limp wrist waggle, which is like, uh, yeah, okay, fine, you know.

    Weighing The Risks Of Coming Out At Work 2010

  • Bees exchange fairly detailed information about food sources through an involuntary reflex known as the waggle dance.

    What Do Monkeys Know? 2008

  • Bees exchange fairly detailed information about food sources through an involuntary reflex known as the waggle dance.

    What Do Monkeys Know? 2008

  • "When bees return from a foraging expedition they let the other bees in the colony know where they have been and how good the nectar was by performing what's known as the waggle dance," Barron said.

    PhysOrg.com - latest science and technology news stories 2009

  • "When bees return from a foraging expedition they let the other bees in the colony know where they have been and how good the nectar was by performing what's known as the waggle dance," Barron said.

    PhysOrg.com - latest science and technology news stories 2009

  • EMMA ALBERICI: They do something I heard is called the waggle dance.

    unknown title 2009

  • After that error, though, offensive coordinator Jeff Grady went to Skidmore on the very next play, calling a waggle pass where quarterback Ryan Colburn rolled out and hit Skidmore for a 5-yard gain.

    Merced Sun-Star: front 2009

  • "When bees return from a foraging expedition they let the other bees in the colony know where they have been and how good the nectar was by performing what's known as the waggle dance," Barron said.

    PhysOrg.com - latest science and technology news stories 2009

  • "When bees return from a foraging expedition they let the other bees in the colony know where they have been and how good the nectar was by performing what's known as the waggle dance," Barron said.

    PhysOrg.com - latest science and technology news stories 2009

Comments

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  • For he can spraggle upon waggle at the word of command. (from Christopher Smart's Jubilate Agno)

    December 31, 2007

  • Little trotty wagtail, he waddled in the mud,

    And left his little footmarks, trample where he would.

    He waddled in the water-pudge, and waggle went his tail,

    And chirrupt up his wings to dry upon the garden rail.

    - John Clare, 'Little Trotty Wagtail'.

    November 17, 2008