wriggle out of
phrasal verb
wriggled out of; wriggling out of; wriggles out of
informal + often disapproving
: to avoid doing (something that one does not want to do) in some clever or dishonest way
She tried to wriggle out of the contract.
Don't let him wriggle out of paying you for your work.
Examples of wriggle out of in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The dog then appeared to wriggle out of the blankets — finally getting to stretch her legs — while someone held her leash.
—
Kimberlee Speakman, Peoplemag, 23 Mar. 2024
But as Bornstein says, yards are places where things grow and change, even on turf lawns when clover and dandelions bloom and leaves fall and the worms wriggle out of the ground after a heavy rain.
—Jeanette Marantos, Los Angeles Times, 1 Feb. 2024
The look that would be hard to wriggle out of
Maya Jama was a presenter of the awards ceremony so wore multiple looks over the course of the evening.
—Elizabeth Paton, New York Times, 5 Dec. 2023
So when Verizon bought Yahoo in 2017 and Mozilla had a chance to wriggle out of its default agreement, Mozilla promptly backed out, switching back to Google that same year and then renewing Google's default deal in 2020.
—Ashley Belanger, Ars Technica, 2 Nov. 2023
Jefferson wriggled out of a would-be sack to find Dominique Johnson alone behind the defense for the game's biggest play, a 43-yard touchdown pass midway through the third quarter.
—Tom Murphy, Arkansas Online, 23 Sep. 2023
The fates of entire companies have rested on the issue of spotting fakes: Elon Musk, in an attempt to wriggle out of his deal to buy Twitter, cited a bot detector to boost his argument that Twitter had misrepresented the number of bots on its site.
—Christopher Beam, WIRED, 14 Sep. 2023
All-Star closer Camilo Doval picked up his second win of the series after wriggling out of a jam in the ninth with Kwan and Ramírez in scoring position.
—Joe Noga, cleveland, 13 Sep. 2023
Rodriguez appeared set to wriggle out of the inning again after getting Higashioka to pop up to short, but Pereira, who hit into a double play in the second, launched the first pitch of the at-bat, a 92 mph four-seam fastball, on a line into left to score both runners and make it 8-3.
—Ryan Ford, Detroit Free Press, 8 Sep. 2023
Kimberlee Speakman, Peoplemag, 23 Mar. 2024
But as Bornstein says, yards are places where things grow and change, even on turf lawns when clover and dandelions bloom and leaves fall and the worms wriggle out of the ground after a heavy rain.
—Jeanette Marantos, Los Angeles Times, 1 Feb. 2024
The look that would be hard to wriggle out of
Maya Jama was a presenter of the awards ceremony so wore multiple looks over the course of the evening.
—Elizabeth Paton, New York Times, 5 Dec. 2023
So when Verizon bought Yahoo in 2017 and Mozilla had a chance to wriggle out of its default agreement, Mozilla promptly backed out, switching back to Google that same year and then renewing Google's default deal in 2020.
—Ashley Belanger, Ars Technica, 2 Nov. 2023
Jefferson wriggled out of a would-be sack to find Dominique Johnson alone behind the defense for the game's biggest play, a 43-yard touchdown pass midway through the third quarter.
—Tom Murphy, Arkansas Online, 23 Sep. 2023
The fates of entire companies have rested on the issue of spotting fakes: Elon Musk, in an attempt to wriggle out of his deal to buy Twitter, cited a bot detector to boost his argument that Twitter had misrepresented the number of bots on its site.
—Christopher Beam, WIRED, 14 Sep. 2023
All-Star closer Camilo Doval picked up his second win of the series after wriggling out of a jam in the ninth with Kwan and Ramírez in scoring position.
—Joe Noga, cleveland, 13 Sep. 2023
Rodriguez appeared set to wriggle out of the inning again after getting Higashioka to pop up to short, but Pereira, who hit into a double play in the second, launched the first pitch of the at-bat, a 92 mph four-seam fastball, on a line into left to score both runners and make it 8-3.
—Ryan Ford, Detroit Free Press, 8 Sep. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'wriggle out of.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near wriggle out of
Cite this Entry
“Wriggle out of.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wriggle%20out%20of. Accessed 27 Apr. 2024.
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