wriggle out of

verb

Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see wriggle, out of.

“The worm wriggled out of the man's pocket.”

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Meanings

verbwriggle out of (third-person singular simple present wriggles out of, present participle wriggled out of, simple past and past participle wriggled out of)

present singular third person wriggles out of · participle present wriggled out of · participle past wriggled out of · past wriggled out of

  1. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see wriggle, out of.

    The worm wriggled out of the man's pocket.

  2. transitiveTo avoid performing a duty or fulfilling an obligation, by sneaky means.

    RMT General Secretary Eddie Dempsey claimed the operator was trying to "wriggle out of its agreements and block fair pay for its members".

    2025 June 25, Richard Wilcock, “Network News: RMT overtime ban prompts XC cancellations warning”, in RAIL, number 1038, page 11
Cite this entry
APA

wriggle out of. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wriggle%20out%20of

MLA

“wriggle out of.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wriggle%20out%20of. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “wriggle out of,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wriggle%20out%20of.

Source: wriggle out of on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.