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definitions

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.

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RELATED WORDS

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

Nearby words

  1. wigged,
  2. wigger,
  3. wiggery,
  4. wiggin,
  5. wigging,
  6. wiggle nail,
  7. wiggle room,
  8. wiggle-tail,
  9. wiggler,
  10. wigglesworth

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. 2019

Examples from the Web for wiggling

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

v.

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.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper