To wriggle means to twist and turn your body with quick, squirming movements. Picture a fish flopping on a dock or a puppy trying to escape a bath: that twisting, wiggling motion is wriggling. Kids often wriggle in their seats when they're excited, bored, or can't sit still during a long assembly.

The word captures a specific kind of movement: small, continuous, side-to-side motions rather than big, dramatic ones. A worm wriggles through soil. A child might wriggle under a fence or wriggle their toes in the sand at the beach.

You can also wriggle out of something, which means escaping through cleverness or squirming. A student might try to wriggle out of doing the dishes by claiming they have too much homework, though parents usually see through that. The phrase suggests getting free through persistence and creativity rather than direct confrontation.