squiggle

[ skwig-uhl ]

noun

1. a short, irregular curve or twist, as in writing or drawing.

verb (used without object)

, squig·gled, squig·gling.

1. to move in or appear as squiggles:

   His handwriting squiggled across the page.

verb (used with object)

, squig·gled, squig·gling.

1. to form in or cause to appear as squiggles; scribble.

squiggle

/ ˈskwɪɡəl /

noun

1. a mark or movement in the form of a wavy line; curlicue
2. an illegible scrawl

verb

1. intr to wriggle
2. intr to form or draw squiggles
3. tr to make into squiggles

Derived Forms

• ˈsquiggler, noun
• ˈsquiggly, adjective

Other Words From

• squig·gly adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of squiggle¹

First recorded in 1830–40; blend of squirm and wriggle

Word History and Origins

Origin of squiggle¹

C19: perhaps a blend of squirm + wiggle

Example Sentences

Over a long period of time, the octopus learns to identify patterns in the squiggles it sees passing back and forth.

From MIT Technology Review

If confirmed, that controversial claim would push back the origin of the earliest sponges by about 350 million years and make the tiny squiggles the oldest known fossils of animals, by far.

From Science News

Tagged with fluorescent dye, the mitochondria were neon squiggles crawling...

From Quanta Magazine

Berger’s machine, first used successfully in 1924, produced a readout of squiggles that represented the electricity created by collections of firing nerve cells in the brain.

From Science News

Printed on aluminum in preschool-classroom pastels, these computer-rendered creations array circles, squares and squiggles in pop-art patterns that appear ready for dice or tokens.

From Washington Post

One person draws a squiggle on a Post-It, the other tries to make it into something real.

From The Daily Beast

Father: (sipping bourbon and soda, not looking up from iPad) Just make a circle and put a little squiggle at the bottom.

From The Daily Beast

I will remember the success trajectory is a squiggle ... not a straight line.

From The Daily Beast

The only difference between the two numbers was an extra squiggle in the upper line of the three.

From Project Gutenberg

The heart is a five, the dot a zero, and backward sevens with one squiggle are twos.

From Project Gutenberg

The black squiggle behind is only put in to make the beads and things look better.

From Project Gutenberg