wiggle

[wig-uh l]

verb (used without object), wig·gled, wig·gling.

to move or go with short, quick, irregular movements from side to side: The puppies wiggled with delight.

verb (used with object), wig·gled, wig·gling.

to cause to wiggle; move quickly and irregularly from side to side.

noun

a wiggling movement or course.
a wiggly line.
a dish of creamed fish or shellfish and peas.

Idioms

get a wiggle on, Informal. to hurry up; get a move on: If you don't get a wiggle on, we'll miss the first act.

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

Related formsout·wig·gle, verb (used with object), out·wig·gled, out·wig·gling.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for wiggling

twist, squirm, jerk, wag, writhe, jiggle, wave, wriggle, shimmy, zigzag, waggle, twitch, worm

Examples from the Web for wiggling

Contemporary Examples of wiggling

He must have noticed me looking because he held his fingers up, wiggling one as if he were showing off a ring.
Watching ISIS Come to Power Again
Elliot Ackerman
September 7, 2014
She escaped by propping the automatic garage door open with a paint can and wiggling out after her parents had gone to sleep.
Life With the Anarchists
Evan Wright
April 6, 2009

Historical Examples of wiggling

But all his wiggling and twisting were of not the slightest help to him.
The Tale of Timothy Turtle
Arthur Scott Bailey
They were darting over the walls and ceiling and wiggling over the floor.
The Lady Doc
Caroline Lockhart
Then the brute began to fall, twisting, turning, wiggling and struggling.
Five Thousand Miles Underground
Roy Rockwood
He was wiggling so that his christening robe was most off him.
The Story of Opal
Opal Whiteley
On and on he came, wiggling and squirming to gain every inch.
Dick Hamilton's Football Team
Howard R. Garis

British Dictionary definitions for wiggling

wiggle

verb

to move or cause to move with jerky movements, esp from side to side

noun

the act or an instance of wiggling
get a wiggle on slang, mainly US to hurry up

Derived Formswiggler, nounwiggly, adjective

Word Origin for wiggle

C13: from Middle Low German, Middle Dutch wiggelen

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for wiggling

wiggle

early 13c., perhaps from Middle Dutch or Middle Flemish wigelen, frequentative of wiegen "to rock," from wiege "cradle" (cf. Old High German wiga, German Wiege, Old Frisian widze), from PIE root *wegh- "to move" (see weigh). Related: Wiggled; wiggling. The noun is attested from 1816.