wiggle

American  

[wig-uhl] / ˈwɪg əl /

verb (used without object)

wiggled, wiggling

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)

wiggled, wiggling

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

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

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

After two trips in his pickup truck, Juenke, a retired Houston policeman, waded through rushing waters to the Wiggle Inn cabin and became stranded.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 18, 2026

Wiggle Room is accompanied by a live score performed by Joe Berry, a member of the Grammy-nominated electronic group M83 and Barcelo’s longtime partner.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 19, 2025

The lawsuit, filed in March 2022, claimed that "Levitating" shared "compositional elements" with "Wiggle," most significantly by duplicating its opening melody.

From Reuters • Aug. 8, 2023

Maggie rushed to the end of the Finger Wiggle song.

From Slate • Mar. 25, 2023

I gave him his box of mementos and watched as he fingered each one: the Wiggle King fishing lure, the silver dollar, the cork, little Eva’s nesting doll, and the skeleton key.

From "Moon Over Manifest" by Clare Vanderpool