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wriggle

UK/ˈɹɪɡəl/ US/ˈrɪɡʌl/ uncommon
verb (1) noun (1)

verb

1.

to move in a twisting or contorted motion, (especially when struggling)

  • “The prisoner writhed in discomfort”
  • “The child tried to wriggle free from his aunt”
Synonyms

noun

1.

the act of wiggling

Synonyms

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”).

Phrases

  • wriggle out of

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.