wriggle

English

Etymology

Related to Old English wrigian (“to turn”).

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɪɡəl

Verb

wriggle (third-person singular simple present wriggles, present participle wriggling, simple past and past participle wriggled)

1. (intransitive) To slightly twist one's body and quickly move one's limbs.

   Teachers often lose their patience when children wriggle in their seats.

   • 1972, Carlos Castañeda, The teachings of Don Juan: a Yaqui way of knowledge^[1], page 78:

     I tried to ease my grip, but my hands were sweating so profusely that the lizards began to wriggle out of them.

2. (transitive) To cause to or make something wriggle.

   He was sitting on the lawn, wriggling his toes in the grass.

Derived terms

• wriggler
• wriggly

Translations

to twist one's body and move the limbs

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 蠢動 (cmn), 蠢动 (cmn) (chǔndòng), 蠕動 (cmn), 蠕动 (cmn) (rúdòng)

• Dutch: wiebelen (nl)
• Esperanto: barakti (eo)
• Finnish: kiemurrella (fi)
• French: remuer (fr), se tortiller (fr)

• German: sich winden (de), sich schlänglen (de), zappeln (de)
• Greek: στριφογυρίζω (el) (strifogyrízo)
• Japanese: うごめく (ja) (ugomeku), のたくる (ja) (notakuru)
• Maori: takatū (mi)
• Russian: извиваться (ru) (izvivátʹsja)
• Serbo-Croatian: migoljiti (sh), meškoljiti (sh), мигољити (sh), мешкољити (sh)
• Spanish: retorcerse (es), serpentear (es)
• Swedish: slingra, vifta, vicka

to make or cause to wriggle

• Dutch: wiebelen (nl)

• Finnish: kiemurteluttaa (fi)

Noun

wriggle (plural wriggles)

1. A wriggling movement.

Translations

wriggling movement

• Finnish: kiemurtelu (fi)

Anagrams

• wiggler