Dictionary

wriggle en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˈɹɪɡəl/

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”).

Meanings

1. A wriggling movement.

Forms

Deriveds

wriggle room · get a wriggle on

Translations (2)

fi kiemurtelu (wriggling movement) · it contorsione (wriggling movement)

wriggle en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˈɹɪɡəl/

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”).

Meanings

1. (intransitive) To twist one's body to and fro with short, writhing motions; to squirm.
   • Both he and successors would often wriggle in their seats, as long as the cushion lasted. 1724, Jonathan Swift, “Drapier's Letters”, in 5:
   • Teachers often lose their patience when children wriggle in their seats.
   • In this category the Wriggling Orator claims our attention. This St. Vitus-like speaker does not stand firmly in his boots, but his feet wriggle from heel to toe and over one another; his knees are not braced to hold up his body, but they wriggle outwards, inwards, backwards, forwards; his sides are not erect to sustain his chest, but they bend and wriggle, first one way then another; his shoulders are not squared to the spectator's eye, but they wriggle up, down, out, in; his arms are not expanded in their movements, but they wriggle about and seem to crawl over his body. His head wriggles on the wriggling neck,—his tongue wriggles in his mouth,—the words wriggle out,—and he wriggles all over, and all together. 1886, Alexander Melville Bell, “An Alphabet of Orators”, in Essays and Postscripts on Elocution, page 171:
   • I tried to ease my grip, but my hands were sweating so profusely that the lizards began to wriggle out of them. 1972, Carlos Castañeda, The teachings of Don Juan: a Yaqui way of knowledge, page 78:
2. (transitive) To cause something to wriggle.
   • He was sitting on the lawn, wriggling his toes in the grass.
3. (intransitive) To use crooked or devious means.

Forms

Deriveds

wriggle out of · wriggler · wriggly

Synonyms

wiggle · wiggle

Translations (55)

sv slingra (to twist one's body and move the limbs) · mi whakatīkorikori (to make or cause to wriggle) · sh мигољити (to twist one's body and move the limbs) · sh мешкољити (to twist one's body and move the limbs) · bg извивам се (to twist one's body and move the limbs) · mi āuta (to twist one's body and move the limbs) · hu izeg-mozog (to twist one's body and move the limbs) · mnc ᡳᠪᡠᡵᡧᠠᠮᠪᡳ (to twist one's body and move the limbs) · mi korikori (to twist one's body and move the limbs) · hu tekerget (to make or cause to wriggle) · mi onioni (to twist one's body and move the limbs) · it contorcersi (to twist one's body and move the limbs) · sv vifta (to twist one's body and move the limbs) · hu mozgat (to make or cause to wriggle) · fi kiemurteluttaa (to make or cause to wriggle) · hu tekergőzik (to twist one's body and move the limbs) · pt contorcer-se (to twist one's body and move the limbs) · mi hīkaikai (to twist one's body and move the limbs) · eo barakti (to twist one's body and move the limbs) · cmn 蠢動 /蠢动 (to twist one's body and move the limbs) · ta நெளி (to twist one's body and move the limbs) · de sich schlängeln (to twist one's body and move the limbs) · mi koropeka (to twist one's body and move the limbs) · bg гърча се (to twist one's body and move the limbs) · ga bí ag lúbarnaíl (to twist one's body and move the limbs) · fr remuer (to twist one's body and move the limbs) · nl wiebelen (to make or cause to wriggle) · bg усуквам (to make or cause to wriggle) · mi oioi (to twist one's body and move the limbs) · nl wiebelen (to twist one's body and move the limbs) · es retorcerse (to twist one's body and move the limbs) · fi kiemurrella (to twist one's body and move the limbs) · de zappeln (to twist one's body and move the limbs) · ota بالقلامق (to twist one's body and move the limbs) · es serpentear (to twist one's body and move the limbs) · hu csavargat (to make or cause to wriggle) · mi tīkorikori (to twist one's body and move the limbs) · hu fészkelődik (to twist one's body and move the limbs) · sh meškoljiti (to twist one's body and move the limbs) · hu teker (to make or cause to wriggle) · cmn 蠕動 /蠕动 (to twist one's body and move the limbs) · pt contorcer (to make or cause to wriggle) · mi takatū (to twist one's body and move the limbs) · sh migoljiti (to twist one's body and move the limbs) · ja のたくる (to twist one's body and move the limbs) · el στριφογυρίζω (to twist one's body and move the limbs) · de sich winden (to twist one's body and move the limbs) · bg извивам (to make or cause to wriggle) · hu tekereg (to twist one's body and move the limbs) · sv vicka (to twist one's body and move the limbs) · mi kareu (to twist one's body and move the limbs) · ru извива́ться (to twist one's body and move the limbs) · tyz bả (to twist one's body and move the limbs) · ja うごめく (to twist one's body and move the limbs) · fr se tortiller (to twist one's body and move the limbs)