wiggle

[ wig-uhl ]

verb (used without object)

, wig·gled, wig·gling.

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

   The puppies wiggled with delight.

verb (used with object)

, wig·gled, wig·gling.

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.

wiggle

/ ˈwɪɡəl /

verb

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

noun

1. the act or an instance of wiggling
2. get a wiggle on slang.
   get a wiggle on to hurry up

Derived Forms

• ˈwiggly, adjective
• ˈwiggler, noun

Other Words From

• outwiggle verb (used with object) outwiggled outwiggling

Word History and Origins

Origin of wiggle¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of wiggle¹

C13: from Middle Low German, Middle Dutch wiggelen

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

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

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

Example Sentences

The NFL has precious little wiggle room if more teams suffer outbreaks, but on a league level, so far it’s a navigable situation.

From FiveThirtyEight

Thinner margins accompanied by relatively high rates of debt provide less wiggle room if the properties, or the economy, run into trouble.

From ProPublica

Some camps say even the current rules provide some wiggle room and they might choose to open regardless of whether they’re changed.

From Voice of San Diego

Surprisingly, one was a wiggle to only one side of the cell.

From Science News

A truly all-terrain rover on the moon or Mars may need to put a little wiggle in its walk.

From Science News For Students

Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle.

From The Daily Beast

Why are we still listening to songs like “Wiggle” on the radio?

From The Daily Beast

Many of us strike a happy medium, leaving enough wiggle room with reality to spin a good yarn.

From The Daily Beast

And so his horizons slope, his power lines wiggle, his bridges curve.

From The Daily Beast

Bound by teachings on same-sex marriage, yes, but there was apparently some wiggle room on the issue of marriage in general.

From The Daily Beast

Oi know ye're there, fer Oi saw th' bushes wiggle a wee bit.

From Project Gutenberg

Hank, he's trying to look the other way, but that doctor won't let his eyes wiggle away from his'n.

From Project Gutenberg

The wiggle has to be three or four octaves above that before the nerves will have anything to do with it.

From Project Gutenberg

They wear yearning facial expressions; when they start to walk, they do not walk, but writhe and wiggle.

From Project Gutenberg

I hold that natur haz its laws and programmy, all the wa down, from the biling over ov a volkano tu the wiggle ov a lam's tale.

From Project Gutenberg