1
as in to squirm
to make jerky or restless movements
a toddler wriggling in his seat all throughout the church service
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2
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of wriggle
He was almost sacked again on second down, but managed to wriggle away from the Dolphins’ hard-charging outside linebacker Jaelan Phillips.
—
Elliott Teaford, Oc Register, 13 Oct. 2025
Anybody who has watched children fight knows that weeping will start only after the victim has given up struggling and wriggling and accepted defeat.
—Big Think, 23 Sep. 2025
According to Bed Bug Biology and Behavior, the bed bugs wriggling under hotel sheets the world over right now descend from cave-dwelling insects that originally drank bat blood.
—Katie Nixon, Nashville Tennessean, 23 Sep. 2025
Edible insects in the form of wriggling maggots or hairy caterpillars are both delicacy and staple in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a central African nation of nearly 120 million people.
—Emmet Livingstone, NPR, 20 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for wriggle
Elliott Teaford, Oc Register, 13 Oct. 2025
Anybody who has watched children fight knows that weeping will start only after the victim has given up struggling and wriggling and accepted defeat.
—Big Think, 23 Sep. 2025
According to Bed Bug Biology and Behavior, the bed bugs wriggling under hotel sheets the world over right now descend from cave-dwelling insects that originally drank bat blood.
—Katie Nixon, Nashville Tennessean, 23 Sep. 2025
Edible insects in the form of wriggling maggots or hairy caterpillars are both delicacy and staple in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a central African nation of nearly 120 million people.
—Emmet Livingstone, NPR, 20 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for wriggle
Recent Examples of Synonyms for wriggle
Verb
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An annual tradition in the legal circle, as well as his UCLA symposium sit-downs, the hourlong speech from the predominantly softspoken Ziffren clearly had a few attendees squirming in their seats near the end.—
Dominic Patten,
Deadline,
30 Oct. 2025
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Hungry birds looking for dozens of squirming caterpillars a day to feed their young can easily find the insects on oak trees.—
Sophie Hartley,
IndyStar,
29 Oct. 2025
Verb
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His fur was singed and bitten, his arm broken, and his mouth crawling with maggots.—
Alice Gibbs,
MSNBC Newsweek,
4 Nov. 2025
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Amazon has already taken steps in recent months to prevent external AI agents from crawling its website, including those developed by OpenAI, Google and Meta.—
Ashley Capoot,Annie Palmer,
CNBC,
4 Nov. 2025
Verb
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Guiteau eventually worms his way into an audience, ostensibly seeking an ambassadorship for his dubious contributions to the campaign but, in reality, requesting a path to greatness.—
Inkoo Kang,
New Yorker,
11 Nov. 2025
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Popping in and out of the party's campaign headquarters with abandon (Secret Service didn't begin to protect the president until 1901), Guiteau tries to worm his way into Garfield's circle and somehow profit.—
Kelly Lawler,
USA Today,
6 Nov. 2025
Verb
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His eyes twitched in rapid blinks, his lips disappeared as if cold fury were coursing through his body.—
George Packer,
The Atlantic,
6 Nov. 2025
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Picture objects levitating or twitching without external interference—or switching rooms.—
Sophia Beams,
Better Homes & Gardens,
29 Oct. 2025
Verb
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After getting off to a hot start from 3-point range to open the season, entering the game shooting over 46% from long distance as a team, the chilly weather crept into Halton, cooling off the green and white.—
Hunter Bailey,
Charlotte Observer,
12 Nov. 2025
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In the end, the Democrats mostly oriented their demands toward health care—above all, the renewal of expiring Obamacare subsidies—as opposed to, say, prioritizing more abstract ultimatums related to creeping authoritarianism.—
Jon Allsop,
New Yorker,
11 Nov. 2025
Verb
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Brissett and the Cardinals responded immediately, marching 74 yards in 11 plays before Brissett snuck one across at the goal line.—
Scott Thompson,
FOXNews.com,
4 Nov. 2025
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Tibetan parents, fathers mostly, also snuck into India to leave their children at the school.—
Diaa Hadid,
NPR,
4 Nov. 2025
Verb
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A week later, a skeptical Supreme Court might toss them out entirely.—
Newsweek Staff,
MSNBC Newsweek,
6 Nov. 2025
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Taste traditionally prepared dishes at the pioneer picnic, join in frontier festivities, toss tomahawks and enjoy family-friendly games.—
Caroline Ritzie,
Cincinnati Enquirer,
5 Nov. 2025
Verb
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Long lines snaked around the terminal Sunday.—
Alexandra Skores,
CNN Money,
3 Nov. 2025
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Two incumbents — west Charlotte’s Thelma Byers-Bailey and Summer Nunn, whose district snakes along the county’s southern border — chose not to run for reelection to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Board of Education.—
Josh Bergeron,
Charlotte Observer,
2 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Wriggle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/wriggle. Accessed 16 Nov. 2025.
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