waggle

English

Etymology

From Middle English wagelen (attested in wagelyng), possibly a borrowing of Middle Low German wagelen; equivalent to wag +‎ -le (“(frequentative)”). Compare continental equivalents Middle High German wacken ( > Danish vakle, German wackeln), Swedish vagla, West Frisian waggelje, Low German wackeln, Dutch waggelen.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈwaɡəl/

  • Audio (Southern England)

    (file)

  Rhymes: -æɡəl

Verb

waggle (third-person singular simple present waggles, present participle waggling, simple past and past participle waggled)

1. (transitive) To move (something) with short, quick motions; to wobble.
   • 1908 October, Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC:

     The Mole waggled his toes from sheer happiness, spread his chest with a sigh of full contentment, and leaned back blissfully into the soft cushions.

   • 1958 May, Avram Davidson, “Or All The Seas With Oysters”, in Galaxy Science Fiction‎, page 56:

     Oscar turned to someone who wasn't there and waggled his head. "Hoo, boy," he said.

2. (transitive, of the eyebrows) To quickly raise and lower in rapid succession, usually as an implication of slyness, smugness, or suggestiveness.
3. (intransitive) To reel, sway, or move from side to side; to move with a wagging motion; to waddle.
   • 1598–1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “Much Adoe about Nothing”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :

     I know you by the waggling of your head.

   • 1692, Roger L’Estrange, “ (please specify the fable number.) (please specify the name of the fable.)”, in Fables, of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists: , London: R Sare, , →OCLC:

     Why do you go Nodding and Waggling so like a Fool, as if you were Hipshot? says the Goose to her Gosselin.

   • 1942, Emily Carr, The Book of Small‎:

     The tassel on the end of his pigtail waggled all down the path and, as he turned out of the gate, it gave a special little flip.

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

waggle (plural waggles)

1. An instance of waggling.
2. A wobbling motion.

   Give the cable a waggle to let it come out quicker.

3. (golf) The preliminary swinging of the club head back and forth over the ball in the line of the proposed stroke.

Anagrams

• waggel