squigglen.1
A giggle or sniggle.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > pleasure > laughter > types of laughter > [noun] > sniggering > instance of
snirt1781
nichera1791
nickera1791
snigger1823
snitter1825
snicker1836
sniggle1852
squirk1882
squiggle1898
1898 B. Capes Adv. Comte de la Muette v. 92 I was betrayed into a squiggle of laughter.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1915; most recently modified version published online June 2019).
squigglen.2
/ˈskwɪɡ(ə)l/ A wriggly twist or curve; esp. a wavy or twisting line drawn on a surface.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > curvature > series of curves > [noun] > winding curve(s)
folda1250
windinga1387
wrinkling1387
revolution?a1425
wrinkle1430
crink1567
crank1572
cringle-crangle1573
crinkle1596
crankle1598
crinkle-crankle1598
meander1603
anfractuosity1612
ins and outs1655
sinuationa1676
insinuationa1684
anfractus1719
sinuosity1720
flexuosity1737
evolution1765
cringle1808
wriggle1825
voluminosity1841
squiggle1902
the world > space > shape > curvature > series of curves > [noun] > winding curve(s) > thing having > a line
serpenter1605
scribble1665
scriggle1873
striggle1906
squiggle1928
1902 W. W. Jacobs Lady of Barge 10 ‘How does my hair look?’ ‘All wavy,..all little curls and squiggles.’
1928 Daily Express 9 July 10/3 No hieroglyphics in timetables to be looked up, no particular squiggle to be remembered lest one is unhooked from the express at Dijon or goes to Rome instead of Florence.
1934 R. Fry Let. 3 Aug. (1972) II. 692 The squiggles in the foreground represent runnels of water flowing everywhere.
1957 V. S. Naipaul Mystic Masseur v. 78 The handwriting became a hasty, tired squiggle, and the note-book was abandoned.
1979 Listener 3 May 603/3 From time to time, squiggles appeared on the screen which were interpreted by some as subliminal instructions to vote labour.
Compounds
squiggle-eyed adv. in to look squiggle-eyed (at someone), to view askance or unfavourably. Also as adj. (Only in P. G. Wodehouse.)
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > disapproval > disapprove [verb (intransitive)] > look disapprovingly
to look squiggle-eyed (at someone)1927
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > disapproval > [adjective] > expressing disapproval by looks
frowningc1386
stern1390
squiggle-eyed1960
1927 P. G. Wodehouse Meet Mr. Mulliner vi. 178 There is a certain stage in the progress of a man's love when he feels like curling up in a ball and making little bleating noises if the object of his affections so much as looks squiggle-eyed at him.
1941 P. G. Wodehouse Berlin Broadcasts in Performing Flea (1961) i. 265 The internee is always being told to show his passport, and if he has not got one, the authorities tend to look squiggle-eyed.
1960 P. G. Wodehouse Jeeves in Offing xii. 136 She's always been a bit squiggle-eyed about Phyllis, because in Switzerland she held the view that we were a shade too matey.
1972 P. G. Wodehouse Pearls, Girls, & Monty Bodkin i. 9 He was very fond of her—in a brotherly way, of course, to which even Gertrude Butterwick, always inclined to look squiggle-eyed at his female friends, could not have taken exception.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1915; most recently modified version published online March 2019).
squigglev.
Chiefly dialect and U.S.
1. intransitive. ? To work wavy or intricate embroidery.
ΚΠ
1804 in Francis Lett. (1901) II. 549 Emily who had before thought her success depended very much on squiggling on a Worked Habit Shirt every afternoon.
2. To writhe about; to squirm or wriggle. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > writhing or twisting movement > writhe or twist [verb (intransitive)] > wriggle
wiggle?c1225
wriggle1495
wraggle?a1513
wrabble1513
sprinklea1522
wrig1599
squirm1691
scrigglea1701
wraxle1746
squiggle1816
wiggle-waggle1827
swiggle1837
scurrifunge1894
1816 J. Pickering Vocab. U.S. To Squiggle, to move about like an eel.
1895–9 in Eng. Dial. Dict.
1922 W. Stevens in Dial July 91 Our bawdiness..Is equally converted into palms, Squiggling like saxophones.
1978 Detroit Free Press 16 Apr. d11/1 Snitman..drew from the water a thin, blackish-brown worm that squiggled in his palm, trying to sink tiny teeth into his flesh.
3. transitive. To shake about (a liquid); to write (something) in a squiggly manner, to scrawl; to squeeze or daub (paint) from a tube thus.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > writing > handwriting or style of > write in specific style [verb (transitive)] > illegibly or untidily
scribblec1456
bescribble1582
scrawl1612
scratch1806
scribble-scrabble1847
scrabble1856
squiggle1942
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > painting > art of colouring > colour [verb (transitive)] > lay on a colour > from a tube
squiggle1942
a1825– in dial. glossaries (E. Anglia, Essex, Nhp., Warw.)
1942 N. Balchin Darkness falls from Air vi. 108 I signed it. Lennox squiggled underneath, ‘I foresee difficulties but the scheme is right in principle. J.L.’
1969 Observer 12 Jan. 8/5 I watched a little girl squiggle yellow and red paint on a piece of white paper.
1973 Daily Tel. 24 Oct. 17/2 It was the 15th tube [of paint], so I squiggled it on.
Derivatives
ˈsquiggling n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture textile fabric or that which consists of > sewing or ornamenting textile fabric > [noun] > embroidery or ornamental sewing > other types of embroidery > action of
sprigging1714
squiggling1804
wheeling1808
veining1814
darning1882
saddle stitching1902
1804 in Francis Lett. (1901) II. 536 A pink velvet on her head—a good many necklaces—a vast deal of squiggling.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1915; most recently modified version published online June 2019).
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n.11898n.21902v.1804