jiggle
Americanverb (used with or without object)
-
jiggles,
present (3rd person singular)
-
jiggled,
past participle, past
-
jiggling
present participle
noun
-
jiggles
plural
verb
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
jigglesimple
-
jigglessimple
-
have jiggledperfect
-
has jiggledperfect
-
am jigglingprogressive
-
are jigglingprogressive
-
is jigglingprogressive
-
have been jigglingperfect progressive
-
has been jigglingperfect progressive
Past
-
jiggledsimple
-
had jiggledperfect
-
was jigglingprogressive
-
were jigglingprogressive
-
had been jigglingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of jiggle
Explanation
To jiggle is to move very quickly back and forth or up and down. If you ride in a car over bumpy roads holding a bowl of Jello on your lap, you can watch it jiggle until you reach your destination. You might feel your body jiggle when you ride on a galloping horse, and you can also jiggle something, like when you accidentally jiggle a chess board and send the pieces flying. The action of moving in this way is a jiggle. Jiggle comes from jig, "lively dance," and is probably an alteration of the earlier joggle, "move with jerks or small bobs."
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:
More than 50 different songs appear, sometimes impatiently cast aside by Mr. Luhrmann so he can jiggle and rotate his kaleidoscope again.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 19, 2026
I’ve spent entire evenings Googling ranch dressing varietals, decoding the semiotics of suburban chain restaurant menus, pondering the subtle thrill of foods that jiggle.
From Salon ● May 26, 2025
The Lego conceit proves an ideal format for visually embodying these tunes, as bouncing abstract creations spring and jiggle to musical life.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 10, 2024
When atoms in a lattice jiggle together, the collective excitation is known as a phonon.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 28, 2023
“Yes, senora,” I say, absorbed in watching her chin jiggle as she talks.
From "The Queen of Water" by Laura Resau
As your brain jiggles and twists, neurons—the long, cordlike cells that transmit signals in the brain—stretch and fray.
From Slate ● Mar. 17, 2024
Noise often jiggles the underlying data, but the topology remains the same—revealing robust features of the system.
From Scientific American ● Sep. 26, 2022
Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees F. Bars are done when the curd is darker, jiggles only slightly, and touching it leaves a light indent.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 12, 2022
It works for a couple of turns of the crank but soon jiggles loose.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 30, 2019
He jiggles the ice around in his glass.
From "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett
"There was an old lady who swallowed a spider that wriggled, and jiggled and tickled inside her..."
From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2023
He jiggled the door handle to an office that he believed belonged to Pelosi, but it was locked.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 25, 2022
In a little, wood-paneled room above the pier’s carousel, Jim Harris jiggled a pair of red dice in a loose fist and opened it onto his desk.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 26, 2021
If something has jiggled the fabric of space — like the long-ago collision of a black hole — one arm elongates or contracts out of sync with the other.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 3, 2017
We remembered that Magellan circumnavigated the world by thinking of him as Ma-Jell-O; his body just wiggled and jiggled all over the globe.
From "The Thing About Jellyfish" by Ali Benjamin
Persin: I wish we had a bit more time to build Monstro and the Blob, to fine-tune the jiggling motion when they move.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 5, 2025
For Annette Guest, 73 and from Worcester, everyday occurrences like someone jiggling their leg could be enough to prompt a reaction.
From BBC ● Dec. 13, 2024
Others joined in: jiggling, dancing and waving to police officers parked nearby.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 24, 2023
Which is why there’s so much debate about whether Ralph Yarl was jiggling the knob or whatever.
From Slate ● Apr. 25, 2023
Even when I ain’t holding a pencil, my fingers is jiggling it, in my pocket, on the kitchen counter, thumping like drumsticks.
From "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
