wiggle

American  

[wig-uhl] / ˈwɪg əl /

verb (used without object)

wiggles, present (3rd person singular) wiggled, past participle, past wiggling present participle

1. to move or go with short, quick, irregular movements from side to side.

   The puppies wiggled with delight.

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verb (used with object)

wiggles, present (3rd person singular) wiggled, past participle, past wiggling present participle

1. to cause to wiggle; move quickly and irregularly from side to side.

noun

1. a wiggling movement or course.

2. a wiggly line.

3. a dish of creamed fish or shellfish and peas.

idioms

1. get a wiggle on, to hurry up; get a move on.

   If you don't get a wiggle on, we'll miss the first act.

wiggle British  

/ ˈwɪɡəl /

verb

1. to move or cause to move with jerky movements, esp from side to side

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noun

1. the act or an instance of wiggling

2. slang to hurry up

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• wiggly
  adjective
• wiggler
  noun
• outwiggle
  verb (used with object)

Conjugated Forms

Present

• have wiggled
  perfect
• has wiggled
  perfect 3rd person singular
• has been wiggling
  perfect progressive 3rd person singular
• am wiggling
  progressive 1st person singular
• are wiggling
  progressive
• is wiggling
  progressive 3rd person singular
• have been wiggling
  perfect progressive
• wiggles
  singular 3rd person
• wiggling
  participle

Past

• had wiggled
  perfect
• was wiggling
  progressive singular
• had been wiggling
  perfect progressive
• were wiggling
  progressive plural
• wiggled
  participle
• wiggled
  simple

Future

• will wiggle
  simple
• will have wiggled
  perfect
• will have been wiggling
  perfect progressive
• will be wiggling
  progressive

Etymology

Origin of wiggle

1175–1225; Middle English wiglen; akin to Old English wegan to move, wēg motion, wicga insect; compare Norwegian vigla to totter, frequentative of vigga to rock oneself, Dutch, Low German wiggelen

Explanation

To wiggle is to move something back and forth. When you dance, you probably wiggle your hips. If you wiggle them too much, your mother might wiggle a finger at you and say "Settle down!" Young children wiggle loose teeth until they fall out. Sometimes, if your mom is trying to hold your little brother still, he'll wiggle out of her grasp and run off. Have you ever come across a rule that you don't want to follow? If so, you've probably tried to find some wiggle room, or little ways you could get out of doing what you don't want to do.

Example Sentences

Yet while such deals give Stellantis some wiggle room for now, it could still result in creating more competition for the automaker in a tightening global car market.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 25, 2026

But on the weeks when I have a little more energy — a little more calendar wiggle room, a little more curiosity — I try to widen my grocery orbit.

From Salon • May 22, 2026

The government has "very little" wiggle room, Velasco said.

From Barron's • May 21, 2026

Early in the airline’s transformation, United launched a tool called ConnectionSaver, which identifies flights with enough wiggle room to be held for passengers racing to make their next leg without delaying everyone on board.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 25, 2026

I wiggle out of my sleep T-shirt and put on an old tunic top that Manisha, Mr. Ram’s daughter-in-law, brought me back from India.

From "Saints and Misfits" by S.K. Ali