First recorded 1690's, originally used of eels; cognate with Scots squimmer (“to wriggle, squirm”). Of uncertain origin. Compare dialectal quirm, whirm (“to disappear quickly, vanish suddenly and mysteriously”), Norwegian kverva (“to turn around, take away, remove, shrink”), from Old Norse hverfa (“to turn, vanish”). Alternatively, perhaps imitative or related to worm (in the sense of writhing movement) or swarm.
First recorded 1690's, originally used of eels; cognate with Scots squimmer (“to wriggle, squirm”). Of uncertain origin. Compare dialectal quirm, whirm (“to disappear quickly, vanish suddenly and mysteriously”), Norwegian kverva (“to turn around, take away, remove, shrink”), from Old Norse hverfa (“to turn, vanish”). Alternatively, perhaps imitative or related to worm (in the sense of writhing movement) or swarm.
Meanings
(intransitive) To twist one's body with snakelike motions.
[…] around us there had sprung up a perfect bedlam of screams and hisses and a seething caldron of hideous reptiles, devoid of fear and filled only with hunger and with rage. They clambered, squirmed and wriggled to the deck, forcing us steadily backward, though we emptied our pistols into them. 1918 September–November, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “The Land That Time Forgot”, in The Blue Book Magazine, Chicago, Ill.: Story-press Corp., →OCLC; republished as chapter IV, in Hugo Gernsback, editor, Amazing Stories, (please specify |part=I to III), New York, N.Y.: Experimenter Publishing, 1927, →OCLC:
The Dutchman then missed a retaken second spot-kick, before the Trotters hit back when Daniel Sturridge's shot squirmed under Heurelho Gomes. 2011 February 5, Michael Kevin Darling, “Tottenham 2 - 1 Bolton”, in BBC:
"Throw it away, dear, do," she said, as they got into the road; but Jacob squirmed away from her […] 1922 October 26, Virginia Woolf, chapter 1, in Jacob’s Room, Richmond, London: […] Leonard & Virginia Woolf at the Hogarth Press, →OCLC; republished London: The Hogarth Press, 1960, →OCLC:
The prisoner managed to squirm out of the straitjacket.
(intransitive) To twist in discomfort, especially from shame or embarrassment.
A tough question that made the press office squirm.
MARIGOLD: Should I tell them I know?
DORA: Nah, let ’em squirm. Let’s go get some pie. 2010, Jeph Jacques, Questionable Content 1686: Twist in the Wind:
I recounted the embarrassing story in detail just to watch him squirm.
mi takaokeoke (twist one’s body with snakelike motion) · sv skruva (sig) (twist in discomfort, especially from shame or embarrassment) · hu vonaglik (twist one’s body with snakelike motion) · ja 蠢く (twist one’s body with snakelike motion) · sh migoljiti (twist one’s body with snakelike motion) · mi kōiriiri (twist one’s body with snakelike motion) · no vri seg (twist one’s body with snakelike motion) · mi tīwheta (twist one’s body with snakelike motion) · es escabullirse (to evade a question, an interviewer etc.) · de sich winden (twist in discomfort, especially from shame or embarrassment) · el στριφογυρίζω (twist one’s body with snakelike motion) · ru ко́рчиться (twist one’s body with snakelike motion) · uk ухили́тися (to evade a question, an interviewer etc.) · izh vingertää (twist one’s body with snakelike motion) · no vri seg unna (to evade a question, an interviewer etc.) · pl wprawić w zakłopotanie (twist in discomfort, especially from shame or embarrassment) · sh meškoljiti (twist one’s body with snakelike motion) · mi takaokeoke (twist in discomfort, especially from shame or embarrassment) · de sich winden (to evade a question, an interviewer etc.) · pt ondear (twist one’s body with snakelike motion) · pt contorcer (twist one’s body with snakelike motion) · es serpentear (twist one’s body with snakelike motion) · es retorcerse (twist one’s body with snakelike motion) · fr louvoyer (to evade a question, an interviewer etc.) · hu tekereg (twist one’s body with snakelike motion) · pt contorcer (twist in discomfort, especially from shame or embarrassment) · ca serpentejar (twist one’s body with snakelike motion) · ca recaragolar-se (twist in discomfort, especially from shame or embarrassment) · pl wić się (twist one’s body with snakelike motion) · fi vääntelehtiä (twist one’s body with snakelike motion) · fi kiemurrella (twist in discomfort, especially from shame or embarrassment) · fi kiemurrella (twist one’s body with snakelike motion) · ta நெளி (twist one’s body with snakelike motion) · ru изгиба́ться (twist one’s body with snakelike motion) · th ดิ้น (twist one’s body with snakelike motion) · ru поёживаться (twist in discomfort, especially from shame or embarrassment) · nl wriemelen (twist one’s body with snakelike motion) · ru ёжиться (twist in discomfort, especially from shame or embarrassment) · hu fészkelődik (twist one’s body with snakelike motion) · de sich winden (twist one’s body with snakelike motion) · mi karapetapetau (twist one’s body with snakelike motion) · pt ondular (twist one’s body with snakelike motion) · fr se tortiller (twist one’s body with snakelike motion) · bg гърча се (twist one’s body with snakelike motion) · hu izeg-mozog (twist one’s body with snakelike motion) · bg гърча се (twist in discomfort, especially from shame or embarrassment) · nl wringen (twist one’s body with snakelike motion) · bg отбягвам (to evade a question, an interviewer etc.) · uk ви́тися (twist one’s body with snakelike motion) · br tortigellañ (twist one’s body with snakelike motion) · uk ко́рчитися (twist in discomfort, especially from shame or embarrassment) · fr remuer (twist one’s body with snakelike motion) · ru ёрзать (twist in discomfort, especially from shame or embarrassment) · eo svingiĝi (twist one’s body with snakelike motion) · pt serpentear (twist one’s body with snakelike motion) · nl wriemelen (twist in discomfort, especially from shame or embarrassment) · ru уви́ливать (to evade a question, an interviewer etc.) · fr gigoter (twist one’s body with snakelike motion) · ota بالقلامق (twist one’s body with snakelike motion) · fi kiemurrella (to evade a question, an interviewer etc.) · grc στρεφογυρίζω (twist one’s body with snakelike motion) · no vri seg (twist in discomfort, especially from shame or embarrassment) · es avergonzarse (twist in discomfort, especially from shame or embarrassment) · hu feszeng (twist in discomfort, especially from shame or embarrassment) · pt retorcer (twist one’s body with snakelike motion) · pl wywinąć się (to evade a question, an interviewer etc.) · ru извива́ться (twist one’s body with snakelike motion) · uk ухиля́тися (to evade a question, an interviewer etc.) · nl ontwijken (to evade a question, an interviewer etc.)