squirm

Etymology

Its origin is uncertain.^[2][3][4] The OED takes it as apparently imitative,^[5] and Klein, Collins, Merriam-Webster and Chambers call it probably or perhaps imitative.^[6][7][8][9] Hoad, Onions and the Shorter Oxford call it symbolic of a writhing movement, probably associated with worm,^{[10][11][12][13]} and Dictionary.com calls it expressive, perhaps echoing worm.^[14] Barnhart and Etymonline note that it has also been associated with swarm,^[3][4] and Barnhart remarks that those who call it imitative do not say what it imitates.^[3] Weekley compared the dialect squiggle, of the same meaning, which he thought suggested wriggle.^[15] Partridge suggested instead Middle High German schirmen (“to fence”), from the slight swerves of a fencer's body.^[16]

Earliest recorded meaning

To wriggle or writhe, of an eel: 1691, in John Ray's collection of South and East Country words, as a dialect word.^[5][3][4]

Semantic evolution

The word was first used of eels and reptiles, a use the OED marks as chiefly American and dialectal.^[5][3][4] It was used of people from 1756 and of things from 1872; from 1759 it also meant to move along with a wriggling motion.^[5] The figurative sense, to writhe inwardly under reproof, embarrassment or shame, is recorded from 1804.^[5][4] Mark Twain used it transitively in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876), for twisting something into a new shape, a rare use.^[5] The noun, a squirming movement, follows in 1839.^[5][4] Sailors called a twist in a rope a squirm.^[17][5] From 1909 the word named the twisting decoration of art nouveau, and colloquially the squirm the style itself.^[5][18]

Timeline

• 1691 – to wriggle, of eels and reptiles.^[5][3][4]
• 1756 – of people.^[5]
• 1759 – to move along with a wriggling motion.^[5]
• 1804 – figuratively, to writhe under reproof or embarrassment.^[5][4]
• 1839 – noun, a squirming movement.^[5][4]
• 1867 – noun, a twist in a rope, in Smyth's Sailor's Word-Book.^[5][17]
• 1876 – transitive, to twist something into a new form (rare).^[5]
• 1909 – the curving decoration of art nouveau, and the style itself.^[5]

Meanings

Verb

1. To twist the body about with snakelike movements; to wriggle or writhe: The puppy squirmed out of his arms.^[2][8][7]
2. To move along with a wriggling motion.^[8][5]
3. To feel or show deep embarrassment, shame or unease: His jokes made the whole audience squirm.^[2][7][5]
4. To escape from an obligation or a difficulty by evasive manoeuvring, usually with out of.^[8][1]

Noun

1. A squirming movement; a wriggle.^[2][8][7]
2. (nautical) A twist in a rope.^[5][17]
3. A twisting, curving ornament typical of art nouveau; with the, the style itself.^[5][18]

Word family

• squirmer
• squirmy
• squirmingly

Related words

• worm
• wriggle
• squiggle

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
3. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
8. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
9. ^ The Chambers Dictionary (2014), 13th ed., Edinburgh: Chambers
10. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
11. ^ Onions, C. T., ed. (1966), The Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
12. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
13. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
14. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
15. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
16. ^ Partridge, Eric (1966), Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, 4th ed., London: Routledge & Kegan Paul
17. ^ a b c Smyth, W. H. (1867), The Sailor's Word-Book: An Alphabetical Digest of Nautical Terms, London: Blackie and Son
18. ^ a b Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com