/ ˈrɪgl; NAmE / verb , noun
■ verb
1.
wriggle (about / around) to twist and turn your body or part of it with quick short movements
SYN wiggle :
[ v ]
The baby was wriggling around on my lap.
[ vn ]
She wriggled her toes.
2.
[usually + adv. / prep. ] to move somewhere by twisting and turning your body or part of it
SYN squirm :
[ v ]
The fish wriggled out of my fingers.
[ v - adj ]
She managed to wriggle free.
[ vn ]
They wriggled their way through the tunnel.
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PHRASAL VERBS
- wriggle out of sth / out of doing sth
■ noun
[ usually sing. ] an act of wriggling
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WORD ORIGIN
late 15th cent.: from Middle Low German wriggelen , frequentative of wriggen twist, turn.