Meaning & use
wriggled
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“wriggled” is a form of “wriggle”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
verbintransitive
Moved with short twisting movements, often because of restlessness, discomfort or an effort to get free.
Grammar: No object; often followed by a direction word: she wriggled free.
Patterns
- wriggle out of something
- wriggle free
- wriggle through something
The puppy wriggled in my arms until I put it down.
The toddler wriggled in her seat during the long speech.
The fish wriggled on the hook and then slipped away.
verbtransitive or intransitive
Moved your body or a part of it with twisting movements to get into or through a tight space.
Grammar: Often with a reflexive object: he wriggled himself under the fence.
Patterns
- wriggle through something
- wriggle yourself into something
She wriggled through the gap in the hedge to reach the garden.
He wriggled himself under the car to find the leak.
The boy wriggled into the tight jacket after three attempts.
verbintransitiveinformalfigurative
Escaped from a duty, blame or a difficult situation by clever or sly means.
Grammar: Followed by out of: she wriggled out of the job.
Patterns
- wriggle out of something
He wriggled out of washing the dishes by pretending to be on the phone.
The company wriggled out of the contract using a technical excuse.
She wriggled out of answering the awkward question.
Word forms
| third person singular | wriggles |
|---|---|
| past tense | wriggled |
| past participle | wriggled |
| -ing form | wriggling |
Common combinations
- wriggled free
- The cat wriggled free from the towel.
- wriggled out of
- He wriggled out of paying his share.
- wriggled with delight
- The puppy wriggled with delight when we got home.
- wriggled through the gap
- The child wriggled through the gap in the fence.
- wriggled uncomfortably
- She wriggled uncomfortably in the hard chair.
Synonyms and how they differ
- squirmed
- Squirmed usually suggests embarrassment or unease, while wriggled can be neutral or playful.
- wiggled
- Wiggled is the more common American word and often means a small, easy movement, such as wiggling your toes.
- writhed
- Writhed shows stronger twisting, often from pain, and is more dramatic than wriggled.
- twisted
- Twisted means turning around an axis and lacks the quick, small repeated movement of wriggled.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: wriggled or wiggled? wriggled or giggled?
wriggled vs wiggled
Wiggled is the preferred American form and often means moving something from side to side, while wriggled stresses twisting the whole body.
wriggled vs giggled
Giggled means laughed in a silly way and only looks similar to wriggled.
Practice
The cat ____ out of the box and ran across the room.
Choose one answer.
Wriggled describes the short twisting movement of the cat getting out. Wrinkled, wrapped and wrecked do not describe how an animal escapes.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “wriggled”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.