I. verb
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
out
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I know what that means-even when he promises, he always wriggles out of paying his share of anything.
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She wriggled out of his arms, took one step too far, and toppled into the roaring river.
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Why bother to wriggle out of accepting that Ecclestone was a fat donor?
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He can not pay the tax, and does everything he can to wriggle out of their demand.
through
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It wasn't a large one, but she was slim; she might be able to wriggle through .
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The drumming of hoofs was loud in their ears as Molly wriggled through on her stomach.
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In the Store there was always something to get behind or under or wriggle through ....
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Philip put his foot on the ledge and his hands on the window and wriggled through .
■ NOUN
way
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Nevertheless he felt the pressure lift off him as the young man wriggled his way through the crowd.
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Some business travelers manage to wriggle their way up to the front cabin without paying those rates.
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He reached the fence first, then wriggled his way under the wire and ran to the edge of the vivid-green swampland.
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We wormed and wriggled his way through to touch down and the rot set in.
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The fastenings flew off my jodhpurs and there had wriggled their way round my knees by the time the pony pulled up.
■ VERB
try
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After I'd explained the problems, Mazzin tried to wriggle out of it by going on about blindfolds.
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So much so that she remembers trying to wriggle her face away from it without success.
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She tried to wriggle to get herself more comfortable, to let him know she didn't mind.
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He tried to wriggle out of it, as usual.
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We argued - no, we don't argue, I say things and he tries to wriggle out of them.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
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He wriggled his fingers in his pockets.
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Shelly tried to wriggle free from him, but he held her firmly.
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The dog wriggled under the fence and escaped into the street.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
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He wriggled around in her arms, then turned and butted his head against her shoulder, lightly but repeatedly.
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I managed to wriggle free of him and then to push him aside.
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She whimpered and wriggled further into the chesterfield's cushiony depths.
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The two halves twitched and wriggled in the dirt.
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Then, as though at some pre-arranged signal, both crabs wriggle free from their homes and exchange shells.
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They lived inside a person's body and wriggled about until their presence drove him to distraction.
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To his relief she wriggled across the seat, leaving room for him to get in beside her.
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Wetly gleaming, it wriggled and flapped over the embankment to the shore road.
II. noun
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
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Desperate attempts to find wriggle room to justify or excuse bad decisions are a waste of time and creative energy.
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I watched her shuffle, wriggle and avert her eyes while we made stilted conversation about our lives.
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If the line wriggles or curves then the movement is towards the tighter curves.
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Really, it was one continuous wriggle .
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She would die rather than roll her eyes and wriggle and blush.