wiggle
Americanverb (used without object)
-
wiggles,
present (3rd person singular)
-
wiggled,
past participle, past
-
wiggling
present participle
verb (used with object)
-
wiggles,
present (3rd person singular)
-
wiggled,
past participle, past
-
wiggling
present participle
noun
-
wiggles
plural
-
a wiggling movement or course.
-
a wiggly line.
-
a dish of creamed fish or shellfish and peas.
idioms
verb
noun
-
the act or an instance of wiggling
-
slang to hurry up
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
wigglesimple
-
wigglessimple
-
have wiggledperfect
-
has wiggledperfect
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am wigglingprogressive
-
are wigglingprogressive
-
is wigglingprogressive
-
have been wigglingperfect progressive
-
has been wigglingperfect progressive
Past
-
wiggledsimple
-
had wiggledperfect
-
was wigglingprogressive
-
were wigglingprogressive
-
had been wigglingperfect progressive
Future
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.
Vocabulary lists containing wiggle
Shiloh
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"Modern Automotive Technology," Vocabulary from Section 3
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"How Coach Told Me I Didn't Make the Cut" and "Bionics"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
They landed at annual tuition and fees of $26,800 a year—a number Glowienka calls “closer to reality”—because it still offers wiggle room for scholarships while being comparable to out-of-state public tuition.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026
But sceptics have warned that financial constraints mean he will struggle to find wiggle room to fund bigger commitments.
From Barron's ● Sep. 16, 2026
But other schools have looked for wiggle room, and the new IRS rule does have some exceptions.
From Slate ● Sep. 3, 2026
In the initial stages, she could not lift her legs or wiggle her toes.
From BBC ● Aug. 22, 2026
She must have seen the sudden hearts in my eyes, because the girl laughed and grabbed one of the baby’s feet to wiggle it in my direction.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Styles has a lot in common with the King of Rock and Roll: from his chiselled good looks to the particular way he wiggles his hips.
From BBC ● Jun. 13, 2026
“If you look at a video of a real baby primate, they have the exact same wiggles and imperfections,” says the filmmaker.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 15, 2025
Rather than set in stone, this race wiggles like Jello.
From Salon ● Apr. 8, 2024
"Then we can analyze these wiggles and extract the dynamic properties of each structure, such as their stiffness in response to impact, and how fast ultrasound travels through them."
From Science Daily ● Nov. 15, 2023
It wiggles and jingles but is worthless to pull on.
From "The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle" by Leslie Connor
To be sure, American consumers have wiggled out of tight spots before, powering the U.S. economy through decades-high inflation spikes, a pandemic, and armed conflicts.
From Barron's ● May 28, 2026
Tesla showed off its Optimus robot, which wiggled its lifelike fingers to the crowd.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 20, 2025
Rojas wore Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s blue glove, wiggled the ball in it and hesitated during his windup.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 29, 2025
His comments wiggled a finger in a wound which has been festering for some fans of top-flight football this season - the idea that the Premier League has become boring.
From BBC ● Apr. 11, 2025
Ivan wiggled his fingers, and Anya pushed his shoulder.
From Anya and the Dragon by Sofiya Pasternack
Particularly impressive were improvements in robotic hands, Sarkar said, wiggling his fingers.
From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026
Maybe wiggling about a bit will throw off the kicker.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026
“Nooo,” comes a shout from the back of the room, a solo red paddle wiggling.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 26, 2026
You can bet that most Americans, meanwhile, will be wiggling their hips to “Dákiti.”
From Salon ● Oct. 15, 2025
Ella was amazed by the wiggling coupons and their incessant battles.
From "The Marvellers" by Dhonielle Clayton
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
