noun
Meaning 1
A wriggling movement.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
wriggle
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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/ˈɹɪɡəl/
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Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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rhymes with -ɪɡəl
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CMU ARPABET: R IH1 G AH0 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
verb
Meaning 2
To twist one's body to and fro with short, writhing motions; to squirm.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: intransitive
Examples
- Teachers often lose their patience when children wriggle in their seats.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: wiggle
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 3
To cause something to wriggle.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: transitive
Examples
- He was sitting on the lawn, wriggling his toes in the grass.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: wiggle
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 4
To use crooked or devious means.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: intransitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 5
the act of wiggling
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: wiggle, squirm
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: motion, movement, move, motility
verb
Meaning 6
to move in a twisting or contorted motion, (especially when struggling)
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- The prisoner writhed in discomfort
- The child tried to wriggle free from his aunt's embrace
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: writhe, wrestle, worm, squirm, twist
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: move
Narrower terms: wrench
History
Etymology
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”).
Across languages
Translations
57 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Finnish: kiemurtelu — wriggling movement
- Italian: contorsione — wriggling movement
- Bulgarian: гърча се (gǎrča se) — to twist one's body and move the limbs
- Bulgarian: извивам се (izvivam se) — to twist one's body and move the limbs
- Chinese Mandarin: 蠢動 /蠢动 (chǔndòng) — to twist one's body and move the limbs
- Chinese Mandarin: 蠕動 /蠕动 (rúdòng) — to twist one's body and move the limbs
- Dutch: wiebelen — to twist one's body and move the limbs
- Esperanto: barakti — to twist one's body and move the limbs
- Finnish: kiemurrella — to twist one's body and move the limbs
- French: remuer — to twist one's body and move the limbs
- French: se tortiller — to twist one's body and move the limbs
- German: sich winden — to twist one's body and move the limbs
- German: sich schlängeln — to twist one's body and move the limbs
- German: zappeln — to twist one's body and move the limbs
- Greek: στριφογυρίζω (strifogyrízo) — to twist one's body and move the limbs
- Hungarian: fészkelődik — to twist one's body and move the limbs
- Hungarian: izeg-mozog — to twist one's body and move the limbs
- Hungarian: tekereg — to twist one's body and move the limbs
- Hungarian: tekergőzik — to twist one's body and move the limbs
- Irish: bí ag lúbarnaíl — to twist one's body and move the limbs
- Italian: contorcersi — to twist one's body and move the limbs
- Japanese: うごめく (ugomeku) — to twist one's body and move the limbs
- Japanese: のたくる (notakuru) — to twist one's body and move the limbs
- Manchu: ᡳᠪᡠᡵᡧᠠᠮᠪᡳ (iburšambi) — to twist one's body and move the limbs
- Māori: takatū — to twist one's body and move the limbs
- Māori: tīkorikori — to twist one's body and move the limbs
- Māori: onioni — to twist one's body and move the limbs
- Māori: kareu — to twist one's body and move the limbs
- Māori: korikori — to twist one's body and move the limbs
- Māori: koropeka — to twist one's body and move the limbs
- Māori: oioi — to twist one's body and move the limbs
- Māori: hīkaikai — to twist one's body and move the limbs
- Māori: āuta — to twist one's body and move the limbs
- Portuguese: contorcer-se — to twist one's body and move the limbs
- Russian: извива́ться (izvivátʹsja) — to twist one's body and move the limbs
- Serbo-Croatian: migoljiti — to twist one's body and move the limbs
- Serbo-Croatian: meškoljiti — to twist one's body and move the limbs
- Serbo-Croatian: мигољити — to twist one's body and move the limbs
- Serbo-Croatian: мешкољити — to twist one's body and move the limbs
- Spanish: retorcerse — to twist one's body and move the limbs
- Spanish: serpentear — to twist one's body and move the limbs
- Swedish: slingra — to twist one's body and move the limbs
- Swedish: vifta — to twist one's body and move the limbs
- Swedish: vicka — to twist one's body and move the limbs
- Tamil: நெளி (neḷi) — to twist one's body and move the limbs
- Tày: bả — to twist one's body and move the limbs
- Ottoman Turkish: بالقلامق (balıklamak) — to twist one's body and move the limbs
- Bulgarian: усуквам (usukvam) — to make or cause to wriggle
- Bulgarian: извивам (izvivam) — to make or cause to wriggle
- Dutch: wiebelen — to make or cause to wriggle
- Finnish: kiemurteluttaa — to make or cause to wriggle
- Hungarian: mozgat — to make or cause to wriggle
- Hungarian: teker — to make or cause to wriggle
- Hungarian: tekerget — to make or cause to wriggle
- Hungarian: csavargat — to make or cause to wriggle
- Māori: whakatīkorikori — to make or cause to wriggle
- Portuguese: contorcer — to make or cause to wriggle