wriggle

American  

[rig-uhl] / ˈrɪg əl /

verb (used without object)

wriggled, wriggling

1. to twist to and fro; writhe; squirm.

2. to move along by twisting and turning the body, as a worm or snake.

3. to make one's way by shifts or expedients (often followed byout ).

   to wriggle out of a difficulty.

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verb (used with object)

wriggled, wriggling

1. to cause to wriggle.

   to wriggle one's hips.

2. to bring, get, make, etc., by wriggling.

   to wriggle one's way through a narrow opening.

noun

1. act of wriggling; a wriggling movement.

wriggle British  

/ ˈrɪɡəl /

verb

1. to make or cause to make twisting movements

2. (intr) to progress by twisting and turning

3. (intr; foll by into or out of) to manoeuvre oneself by clever or devious means

   wriggle out of an embarrassing situation

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noun

1. a wriggling movement or action

2. a sinuous marking or course

Other Word Forms

• outwriggle
  verb (used with object)
• unwriggled
  adjective
• wriggler
  noun
• wrigglingly
  adverb
• wriggly
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of wriggle

1485–95; < Middle Low German wriggelen (cognate with Dutch wriggelen ), frequentative of *wriggen to twist, turn, akin to Old English wrīgian to twist; see wry

Explanation

To wriggle is to squirm and twist quickly. Think of how hard it is to hold a rambunctious puppy as it wriggles in your arms. Wriggle sounds a lot like wiggle, and the two words very nearly mean the same thing. There is a subtle difference, though: when you wriggle, you twist, turn, or bend as you move. When you wiggle, you make more of a back-and-forth motion. In fact, these two near-homonyms have completely different etymological sources. While wiggle stems from a Germanic root meaning "cradle," wriggle's root means "to turn or bend."

Example Sentences

In April 2024, slurry from its lagoon entered the Leigh Tributary of the Beer Hackett Stream, also known as the River Wriggle.

From BBC • May 5, 2026

Working with my editors has been heavenly, too; they come up with headlines like “Dog Collars Continue to Fetch Top Dollar” and “A Wriggle in Time: Historical Artifacts of Belly Dancing.”

From New York Times • Dec. 1, 2016

Wriggle past Winfrey's questions the way he used to find gaps between riders in the pack at the Tour.

From Seattle Times • Jan. 9, 2013

Wriggle into something comfortable—a sausage casing if you must—and read my Twitter feed.

From Slate • Feb. 23, 2010

"I have seen so little of it, as yet, Mr. Wriggle, that you will pardon me if I have spoken hastily."

From The Monikins by Cooper, James Fenimore

Related Words

• crawl
• sneak
• squirm
• zigzag