WIGGLE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does wiggle mean? 

• WIGGLE (noun)
  The noun WIGGLE has 1 sense:

1. the act of wiggling

  Familiarity information: WIGGLE used as a noun is very rare.

• WIGGLE (verb)
  The verb WIGGLE has 1 sense:

1. move to and fro

  Familiarity information: WIGGLE used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• WIGGLE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The act of wiggling

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

squirm; wiggle; wriggle

Hypernyms ("wiggle" is a kind of...):

motility; motion; move; movement (a change of position that does not entail a change of location)

Derivation:

wiggle (move to and fro)

wiggly (moving in a twisting or snake-like or wormlike fashion)

• WIGGLE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they wiggle    ... he / she / it wiggles   
Past simple: wiggled   
Past participle: wiggled   
-ing form: wiggling   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Move to and fro

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

jiggle; joggle; wiggle

Context example:

Don't jiggle your finger while the nurse is putting on the bandage!

Hypernyms (to "wiggle" is one way to...):

agitate; shake (move or cause to move back and forth)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "wiggle"):

wag; waggle (move from side to side)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

wiggle (the act of wiggling)

wiggler (terrestrial worm that burrows into and helps aerate soil; often surfaces when the ground is cool or wet; used as bait by anglers)

wiggler (larva of a mosquito)

wiggler (one who can't stay still (especially a child))

 Context examples 

Jumping down, he watched it until the long legs stopped wiggling, when he knew it was quite dead.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

The evergreen arch wouldn't stay firm after she got it up, but wiggled and threatened to tumble down on her head when the hanging baskets were filled.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Using the nematode as one test system, scientists at CCNR have spent the past several years understanding how a network controls itself — for instance, which individual neurons in the worm's brain are in charge of a backward wiggle.

(Fundamental Rules for How The Brain Controls Movement, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Demi's miracle of mechanical skill, though the cover wouldn't shut, Rob's footstool had a wiggle in its uneven legs that she declared was soothing, and no page of the costly book Amy's child gave her was so fair as that on which appeared in tipsy capitals, the words—To dear Grandma, from her little Beth.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)