squiggle

noun, verb — 7 senses

squiggle

noun

/ˈskwɪɡl̩/

Etymology Probably a blend of squirm + wiggle.

1

A short twisting or wiggling line or mark.

Even the cold ashes where a gipsy's fire had been sent little squiggles of fear down Laura's spine, for how could she know that they were not still lurking near with designs upon her own person?1939, Flora Thompson, Lark Rise:

2

Informal Synonym of tilde.

3

An illegible scrawl.

4

Rare A burst of laughter.

[…] she dodged out again and rejoined the fleeing band which was retiring down the street to a noisy accompaniment of feigned alarm, squiggles of meaningless laughter, […]1934, Ernest Bramah, The Bravo of London:
[…] squiggles of laughter […]1977, Stuart Evans, The Caves of Alienation, page 281:

squiggle

verb

Etymology Probably a blend of squirm + wiggle.

1

Ambitransitive To wriggle or squirm.

When I was coming of age in the '60s, I squirmed and squiggled not to be pinned down by that great transfixer "the homosexual" which American psychiatry had made into such a weighty implement.1980 August 30, Tim Walton, “Queer Rights Strategy Argued in Quirky Dictionary”, in Gay Community News, volume 8, number 6, page 9:

2

Ambitransitive To make a squiggle.

3

Ambitransitive To write illegibly.

Derived terms: squiggler, squiggly, squirl

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.