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wiggle

 - 3 dictionary results

wig⋅gle

[wig-uhl] verb, -gled, -gling, noun
–verb (used without object)
1. to move or go with short, quick, irregular movements from side to side: The puppies wiggled with delight.
–verb (used with object)
2. to cause to wiggle; move quickly and irregularly from side to side.
–noun
3. a wiggling movement or course.
4. a wiggly line.
5. a dish of creamed fish or shellfish and peas.
6. get a wiggle on, Informal. to hurry up; get a move on: If you don't get a wiggle on, we'll miss the first act.

Origin:
1175–1225; ME wiglen; akin to OE wegan to move, wēg motion, wicga insect; cf. Norw vigla to totter, freq. of vigga to rock oneself, D, LG wiggelen
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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wig·gle   (wĭg'əl)   
v.   wig·gled, wig·gling, wig·gles

v.   intr.
  1. To move back and forth with quick irregular motions: The gelatin wiggled on the plate.

    1. To move or proceed with a twisting or turning motion; wriggle: wiggled restlessly in her chair; wiggled through the crowd.

    2. To insinuate or extricate oneself by sly or subtle means: wiggled out of a social engagement.

v.   tr.
  1. To cause to move back and forth with quick irregular motions: wiggle a loose tooth.

  2. To make (one's way, for example) by or as if by wiggling: The pitcher wiggled his way out of a jam.

n.  A wiggling movement or course.

[Middle English wiglen, probably from Middle Low German wiggelen, to totter; see wegh- in Indo-European roots.]
wig'gly adj.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

wiggle  (v.)
c.1225, perhaps from M.Du. or M.Flem. wigelen, frequentative of wiegen "to rock," from wiege "cradle" (cf. O.H.G. wiga, Ger. Wiege, O.Fris. widze), from PIE base *wegh- "to move" (see weigh). The noun is attested from 1816.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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