wiggle [ wig -uh l ] SHOW IPA
/ ˈwɪg əl / PHONETIC RESPELLING
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 dish of creamed fish or shellfish and peas.
QUIZ
WILL YOU SAIL OR STUMBLE ON THESE GRAMMAR QUESTIONS?
Smoothly step over to these common grammar mistakes that trip many people up. Good luck!
Question 1 of 7
Fill in the blank: I can’t figure out _____ gave me this gift.
Idioms about wiggle 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
OTHER WORDS FROM wiggle outwiggle, verb (used with object), out·wig·gled, out·wig·gling.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Words related to wiggle jerk ,
jiggle ,
shimmy ,
squirm ,
twist ,
twitch ,
wag ,
waggle ,
wave ,
wriggle ,
writhe ,
worm
How to use wiggle in a sentence If the NFL is willing to be flexible, it has enough wiggle room to prevent that from happening.
Coupled with Ohio State having its game against Maryland wiped out, the Buckeyes have no more wiggle room on that front unless the average number of games in the league is reduced to seven per team.
It’s possible the Irish will have to beat Clemson again next month to earn a semifinal invitation, but it’s still a better situation than having no remaining wiggle room.
If you pop the hood of a modern car, there’s almost no space, there’s no wiggle room.
Any particular dip might instead be just a random, extra-large wiggle .
He must have noticed me looking because he held his fingers up, wiggling one as if he were showing off a ring.
“The truth came out… like a dolphin wiggling free of a blanket,” Colbert quipped.
She escaped by propping the automatic garage door open with a paint can and wiggling out after her parents had gone to sleep.
"I've told Judy to bemember," said Punch, wiggling, for his father's beard tickled his neck.
"Good," answered the fish, turning a double somersault in the water and wiggling her right fin as if trying to shake hands.
She lay back in the weak sun with her eyes closed behind her shades, her toes wiggling in her flip-flops.
Pawnee Brown had dropped down in the long grass and was now wiggling along like a snake through the bushes and between the rocks.
Instantly they jerk hard, and two big white albacore, from fifteen to thirty pounds, come wiggling up on to the stern of the boat.
SEE MORE EXAMPLES SEE FEWER EXAMPLES
British Dictionary definitions for 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 forms of wiggle wiggler , noun wiggly , 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