as in fidgeted
to make jerky or restless movements
the toddler squirmed the whole time we were in the waiting room
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Recent Examples of squirmed
The open section of their session lasted for 15 minutes — and Howe will have squirmed through every second — but there were laughs amid the stretches and shuttle runs.
—
George Caulkin, New York Times, 1 Oct. 2025
George Caulkin, New York Times, 1 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for squirmed
Verb
-
Children fidgeted in the relentless August heat.—
Jacqui Gifford,
Travel + Leisure,
29 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Baby Briana’s arms twitched and legs flopped against cold concrete.—
Jayme Fraser,
USA Today,
4 Feb. 2026
-
The bonito’s body twitched until Yamasaki slid a thin metal wire down the column of its spinal cord, a second step called shinkei jime, which arrests its nervous system.—
Hannah Goldfield,
New Yorker,
19 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
Aisha jerked and opened her eyes.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
7 Jan. 2026
-
The two stood nose-to-nose on the field when the Steelers player grabbed onto Chase’s facemask, jerked his head and appeared to punch him.—
Ryan Gaydos,
FOXNews.com,
16 Nov. 2025
Verb
-
YouCopia ShelfBin Packet Organizer Avoid spice packets getting buried in drawers or tossed to the back of cabinets.—
Clint Davis,
PEOPLE,
4 Feb. 2026
-
Ramzy Tabello, the owner of the store, said the suspect tossed between $750,000-$1 million worth of jewelry into trash cans.—
Matthew Rodriguez,
CBS News,
4 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Orton wiggled out, and Zayn got a quick roll-up for two.—
Blake Oestriecher,
Forbes.com,
25 Jan. 2026
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As soon as Rocky woke up, his tail began wagging furiously, and his entire body wiggled with excitement.—
Liz O'Connell,
MSNBC Newsweek,
2 Dec. 2025
Verb
-
As Rossini stowed her purse in a tiny back office, a manager named Katie Atlas was onboarding a new employee, a young woman who fiddled nervously with her necklace.—
Hannah Goldfield,
New Yorker,
8 Sep. 2025
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Communities across the globe probably independently fiddled their way towards the invention of proto lip balms over and over.—
Mark Hay,
Popular Science,
13 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
As a teller activated an alarm and called 911 from under her station desk, Brown writhed on the carpet.—
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
12 Dec. 2025
-
Skattebo writhed in pain as the training staff came out to attend to him.—
Ryan Gaydos,
FOXNews.com,
26 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
The fibers withstood more than 10,000 cycles of bending and abrasion, stretched up to 30%, were easily twisted, and survived being washed 100 times.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
27 Jan. 2026
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Leftover scraps of the scarves are twisted and transformed into necklaces with the addition of pearls.—
Alex Wynne,
Footwear News,
26 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Squirmed.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/squirmed. Accessed 5 Feb. 2026.
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