wriggle
Americanverb (used without object)
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to twist to and fro; writhe; squirm.
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to move along by twisting and turning the body, as a worm or snake.
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to make one's way by shifts or expedients (often followed byout ).
to wriggle out of a difficulty.
verb (used with object)
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to cause to wriggle.
to wriggle one's hips.
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to bring, get, make, etc., by wriggling.
to wriggle one's way through a narrow opening.
noun
verb
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to make or cause to make twisting movements
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(intr) to progress by twisting and turning
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(intr; foll by into or out of) to manoeuvre oneself by clever or devious means
wriggle out of an embarrassing situation
noun
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a wriggling movement or action
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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; wry
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Chelsea know there is wriggle room in the title race with meetings against Arsenal and City to follow later this month.
From BBC • Jan. 11, 2026
She expressed a desire for more wriggle room in the spreadsheets against her self-imposed fiscal rules – so-called "headroom".
From BBC • Dec. 1, 2025
In every instance, Hank and Peggy, but mainly Hank, wriggle in their discomfort before settling into a kind of peace with whatever occurs.
From Salon • Aug. 4, 2025
An unholy specimen, a building creature that is sufficiently weird, necessary, and profitable to wriggle to life in the city’s stifling landscape of land-use regulations: the double duplex.
From Slate • Jul. 31, 2025
With my arms free, I was able to wriggle myself out of the rest of the ropes.
From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
