I. ˈwagəl, ˈwaig- verb
( waggled ; waggled ; waggling -g(ə)liŋ ; waggles )
Etymology: freq. of wag (I)
transitive verb
1. : to move back and forth or up and down especially repeatedly and with a jerky or undulating movement : wag
a bird waggles his tail
waggled his forefinger in the air
the pilot waggled his wings as a signal — F.B.Colton
we grown-ups waggle our heads when we greet a baby — Benjamin Spock
clenched a big fist and waggled it experimentally — L.C.Douglas
2. : to impart a waggle to (a golf club)
intransitive verb
1. : to move back and forth or up and down especially repeatedly and with a jerky or undulating movement : wag , wobble
boats were gently waggling at their moorings — Sylvia T. Warner
prancing firmly, her flowered muslin bustle waggling as she went — F. Tennyson Jesse
2. : to move with a pronounced swinging motion (as of the hips) : waddle
teaching a maid to waggle provocatively — New Yorker
II. noun
( -s )
: an instance of waggling : a jerky motion back and forth or up and down : wobble
reminds them with a waggle of one gnarled finger — Fulton Oursler
specifically : a preliminary swinging of a golf club head back and forth over the ball in preparing to start the stroke