as in flaps
a quick jerky movement from side to side or up and down
a quick waggle of her head to indicate "no"
Synonyms & Similar Words
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as in flicks
to move from side to side or up and down with quick jerky motions
the rabbit waggled its ears and hopped away
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for waggles
Verb
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In the canonical metaphorical example, a butterfly flaps its wings in Brazil, and the cascading sequence of atmospheric perturbations leads to a tornado in Texas.—
Dan Garisto,
Scientific American,
22 Oct. 2025 -
That goes for Jimmy Kimmel and for anybody who flaps their gums for a living.—
Jesse Edwards,
MSNBC Newsweek,
20 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Those movies sent up buddy-cop films and alien-invasion flicks by way of a distinctly British perspective (there were plenty of droll asides to go along with the action scenes).—
Jordan Moreau,
Variety,
6 Nov. 2025
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Audiences just can’t get enough of films that offer frights and scares, or even family-friendly flicks that pay homage to spooky season.—
Keith Langston,
PEOPLE,
30 Oct. 2025
Verb
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In a lot of ways, Phil is the tail that wags the dog.—
Alison Foreman,
IndieWire,
31 Oct. 2025
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As Gino wags his finger at his estranged wife, Natalie begins to approach Jasmine.—
Abigail Adams,
People.com,
8 Aug. 2025
Verb
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Some devices, for example, track eye movements or other small muscle twitches to let users select words from a screen.—
Emma R. Hasson,
Scientific American,
14 Aug. 2025
Verb
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Young feels within range for Eagles general manager Howie Roseman, who always swings for the fences.—
Matthew Schmidt,
MSNBC Newsweek,
29 Oct. 2025
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But the tone swings between sour and sweet, grounded and silly, and the jokes run more broadly wacky than precise or original.—
Angie Han,
HollywoodReporter,
13 Oct. 2025
Verb
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The near-tonal looks have been a successful recipe for the 204L thus far, although this particular pair switches things up slightly with its two-tone pink look.—
Riley Jones,
Footwear News,
31 Oct. 2025
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Her connection to Grace shows the universality of issues among women, and switches the often fraught relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law on its head.—
Billie Melissa,
MSNBC Newsweek,
24 Oct. 2025
Verb
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The reader bobs along in the author’s stream of consciousness, riding crests of despair, anger, and hilarity as Toews assembles the shards of her past to investigate her will to write, which is deeply entwined with her will to live.—
Kristen Martin,
The Atlantic,
27 Aug. 2025
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But sometimes even icons need to switch things up a bit—cue the dizzying array of flippy waves, shags, and bobs over the years.—
Fiona Embleton,
Glamour,
19 Aug. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Waggles.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/waggles. Accessed 7 Nov. 2025.
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