wriggle

English

Etymology

From wrig +‎ -le (frequentative suffix). Compare Dutch wriggelen (“to wriggle, squirm”), Low German wriggeln (“to wriggle”). Related to Old English wrigian (“to turn, wend, hie, go move”), from Proto-Germanic *wrigōną (“to wriggle”).

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɪɡəl

Verb

1. (intransitive) To twist one's body to and fro with short, writhing motions; to squirm.

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

   • (Can we date this quote by Jonathan Swift and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

     Both he and successors would often wriggle in their seats, as long as the cushion lasted.

   • 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.

3. (intransitive) To use crooked or devious means.

Derived terms

• wriggler
• wriggly

Translations

to twist one's body and move the limbs

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 蠢動／蠢动 (zh) (chǔndòng), 蠢动 (zh) (chǔndòng), 蠕動／蠕动 (zh) (rúdòng), 蠕动 (zh) (rúdòng)

• Dutch: wiebelen (nl)
• Esperanto: barakti (eo)
• Finnish: kiemurrella (fi)
• French: remuer (fr), se tortiller (fr)
• German: sich winden, sich schlänglen (de), zappeln (de)
• Greek: στριφογυρίζω (el) (strifogyrízo)
• Hungarian: tekereg (hu)
• Italian: contorcersi
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Japanese: うごめく (ja) (ugomeku), のたくる (notakuru)
• Manchu: ᡳᠪᡠᡵᡧᠠᠮᠪᡳ (iburšambi)
• Maori: takatū, tīkorikori, onioni, kareu, korikori, koropeka, oioi, hīkaikai (of restless feet), āuta
• Portuguese: contorcer-se
• Russian: извива́ться (ru) (izvivátʹsja)
• Serbo-Croatian: migoljiti (sh), meškoljiti (sh), мигољити, мешкољити
• Spanish: retorcerse (es), serpentear (es)
• Swedish: slingra (sv), vifta (sv), vicka (sv)
• Westrobothnian:

to make or cause to wriggle

• Dutch: wiebelen (nl)
• Finnish: kiemurteluttaa
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Maori: whakatīkorikori
• Portuguese: contorcer (pt)

Noun

wriggle (plural wriggles)

1. A wriggling movement.

Translations

wriggling movement

• Finnish: kiemurtelu (fi)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: contorsione f

Anagrams

• wiggler