squirm
Meaning
-
- To twist one's body with snakelike motions.
- To twist in discomfort, especially from shame or embarrassment.
- To evade a question, an interviewer etc.
Synonyms
thread one’s way
crawl like a worm
move about restlessly
move restlessly
feel uncomfortalbe
nestle up
buzz about
twist about
creeping motion
buzz around
creeping motion squirm
motion squirm
Frequency
Pronounced as (IPA)
/skwɜːm/
Etymology
In summary
First recorded 1690's, originally used of eels; cognate with Scots squimmer (“to wriggle, squirm”). Of uncertain origin. Compare dialectal quirm, whirm (“to disappear quickly, vanish suddenly and mysteriously”), Norwegian kverva (“to turn around, take away, remove, shrink”), from Old Norse hverfa (“to turn, vanish”). Alternatively, perhaps imitative or related to worm (in the sense of writhing movement) or swarm.
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Notes