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

Early in the airline’s transformation, United launched a tool called ConnectionSaver, which identifies flights with enough wiggle room to be held for passengers racing to make their next leg without delaying everyone on board.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 25, 2026

Magyar is also leaving himself wiggle room on whether and how to wean Hungary from Russian energy imports, which Orban maintained under an exemption from EU strictures.

From Barron's • Apr. 17, 2026

Cooking one more night a week could result in you having a bit more wiggle room in your “fun” budget.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 27, 2026

Meanwhile, lower-income households typically have tax bills that are already very low, leaving less wiggle room to reduce what they owe through deductions, the BofA analysts note.

From Barron's • Jan. 24, 2026

I wiggle the little controller thing—the mouse—but nothing happens then, either.

From "The Wrong Way Home" by Kate O’Shaughnessy