squiggle

[skwig-uhl]

noun

1. a short, irregular curve or twist, as in writing or drawing.

verb (used without object)

squiggled, squiggling 

1. to move in or appear as squiggles.

   His handwriting squiggled across the page.

verb (used with object)

squiggled, squiggling 

1. to form in or cause to appear as squiggles; scribble.

squiggle

/ ˈskwɪɡəl /

noun

1. a mark or movement in the form of a wavy line; curlicue

2. an illegible scrawl

verb

1. (intr) to wriggle

2. (intr) to form or draw squiggles

3. (tr) to make into squiggles

Other Word Forms

• squiggly adjective
• squiggler noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of squiggle¹

First recorded in 1830–40; blend of squirm and wriggle

Word History and Origins

Origin of squiggle¹

C19: perhaps a blend of _squirm + _wiggle

Example Sentences

The off-white form of the rustic terracotta jar, shattered over millenniums and fastidiously reassembled, is elegantly decorated in rich brown and black designs, including bursts of rosettes and abstract squiggles.

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In this script, the lines of good and evil aren’t drawn in black and white or even gray — they’re a tangle of squiggles.

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His figures, drawn in thin, nervous squiggles, stood out starkly against a plain background.

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The genus name uncus means “hook” in Latin, after the fishhooklike squiggles on the rock left by the fossils.

Read more on Science Magazine

"That's what happened here. We had all sort of noticed this fishhook squiggle on the rock. It was pretty prominent because it was really, really deep."

Read more on Science Daily