as in twitching
to make jerky or restless movements
the baby wiggled in her sleep
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Recent Examples of wiggling
Spencer took out his phone and played a recording of his daughter telling the wiggling story.
—
John Kenney, New Yorker, 2 Mar. 2026
Dakar captures their tractor turning over the earth and storks swooping down for wiggling worms to feed their young.
—Alissa Simon, Variety, 4 Feb. 2026
The high-protein hype has reached a fever pitch, and Parmesan cheese is wiggling its way into the cultural conversation.
—Michele Ross, SELF, 20 Jan. 2026
Laughing and wiggling her body, Fiona begins to roll over onto her stomach, ending up closer to Huckleberry.
—Hannah Sacks, PEOPLE, 7 Jan. 2026
After that failed, with the student wiggling out of the coat and hitting, kicking and trying to bite the teacher, the teacher said, the school security guard returned to the van with tube socks.
—Grace Tucker, Cincinnati Enquirer, 14 Nov. 2025
Pressurizing the actuator gets you one single actuation, but to make the actuator wiggle (wiggling being an absolutely necessary skill for any robot), the gas has to be cyclically released.
—IEEE Spectrum, 14 Nov. 2025
Parents and kids will encounter wiggling, stretching, and breathing exercises in each episode, giving your child that consistent routine their bodies need to sleep well, night after night.
—Elisabeth Sherman, Parents, 29 Oct. 2025
That led to him extending both hands and wiggling them in a wave-type motion.
—Jesse Newell, New York Times, 17 Oct. 2025
John Kenney, New Yorker, 2 Mar. 2026
Dakar captures their tractor turning over the earth and storks swooping down for wiggling worms to feed their young.
—Alissa Simon, Variety, 4 Feb. 2026
The high-protein hype has reached a fever pitch, and Parmesan cheese is wiggling its way into the cultural conversation.
—Michele Ross, SELF, 20 Jan. 2026
Laughing and wiggling her body, Fiona begins to roll over onto her stomach, ending up closer to Huckleberry.
—Hannah Sacks, PEOPLE, 7 Jan. 2026
After that failed, with the student wiggling out of the coat and hitting, kicking and trying to bite the teacher, the teacher said, the school security guard returned to the van with tube socks.
—Grace Tucker, Cincinnati Enquirer, 14 Nov. 2025
Pressurizing the actuator gets you one single actuation, but to make the actuator wiggle (wiggling being an absolutely necessary skill for any robot), the gas has to be cyclically released.
—IEEE Spectrum, 14 Nov. 2025
Parents and kids will encounter wiggling, stretching, and breathing exercises in each episode, giving your child that consistent routine their bodies need to sleep well, night after night.
—Elisabeth Sherman, Parents, 29 Oct. 2025
That led to him extending both hands and wiggling them in a wave-type motion.
—Jesse Newell, New York Times, 17 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for wiggling
Verb
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Curry’s body began convulsing and twitching with increasing severity, consistent with him sustaining a traumatic brain injury from being punched in the face, documents state.—
Deborah Laverty,
Chicago Tribune,
29 Mar. 2026
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Afternoon Ben Thanh Market is Hồ Chí Minh’s biggest market – a vast maze of 1,500 stalls selling everything from still-twitching fish to electronics and souvenirs.—
Tamara Hinson,
Condé Nast Traveler,
27 Mar. 2026
Verb
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As the court moved to watch the KSTU-TV segment, Tyler Robinson appeared to begin fidgeting, with one of his hands moving and rubbing his fingers back and forth.—
Stepheny Price , Sarah Rumpf-Whitten , Michael Ruiz,
FOXNews.com,
17 Apr. 2026
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The design was inspired by the hair-tearing boredom of COVID lockdown-era remote work, a time in which Knafs founder Ben Petersen maintained sanity during Zoom calls by fidgeting around with pocket knives and doodling pictures.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
26 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The veterans, of course, are terrific with one later episode set on a plane that finds Mulligan in top squirming form.—
Randy Myers,
Mercury News,
16 Apr. 2026
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Like him, Rue is squirming under Laurie’s thumb, anxious to get out.—
Rafaela Bassili,
Vulture,
13 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Maton made a rehab appearance at Triple A on Friday night, tossing a scoreless inning while allowing two hits, no walks and striking out two on 25 pitches.—
Meghan Montemurro,
Chicago Tribune,
25 Apr. 2026
-
For Young, that means tossing aside a blocker, a process Minter likened to a train wreck.—
Jeff Zrebiec,
New York Times,
25 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Tony Fauci was not just jerking the country around.—
David Blumenthal,
Fortune,
24 Mar. 2026
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The clip on TikTok shows the seat jerking abruptly, apparently from forceful pushes by the person seated behind her.—
Kelly McGreal,
FOXNews.com,
13 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Use water or a hydrating leave-in spray to prep the hair first, making sure to work the product into your new growth before adding a curl cream or edge control to begin twisting.—
Danielle James,
Allure,
22 Apr. 2026
-
Pull them straight out rather than twisting or forcing them.—
Lauren Jarvis-Gibson,
Sacbee.com,
20 Apr. 2026
Verb
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But none of these tracks really explore their ideas as much as just fiddling in place, with any initial energy fizzling out almost immediately.—
Sam Goldner,
Pitchfork,
9 Mar. 2026
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But in private, Arthur advises her to exercise a little more discretion in her, um, fiddling.—
Keith Phipps,
Vulture,
25 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Wiggling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/wiggling. Accessed 26 Apr. 2026.
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