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Added 9 October 2026

wriggle

/ˈɹɪɡəl/ verb

verb Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about wriggle at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

To twist one's body to and fro with short, writhing motions; to squirm.
Teachers often lose their patience when children wriggle in their seats.
To cause something to wriggle.
He was sitting on the lawn, wriggling his toes in the grass.
To use crooked or devious means.

noun

A wriggling movement.

Origin

From wrig + -le (frequentative suffix). Compare Dutch wriggelen (“to wriggle, squirm”), Low German wriggeln (“to wriggle”). Related to Old English wrigian (“to turn, wend, hie, go move”), from Proto-Germanic *wrigōną (“to wriggle”).

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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