wriggle

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
wriggle/ˈrɪɡl/

▶verb

• 1 twist and turn with quick writhing movements.

  ■ move with wriggling movements.

• 2 (wriggle out of) avoid by devious means.

▶noun a wriggling movement.

– derivatives
wriggler noun,
wriggly adjective.

– origin C15: from Mid. Low Ger. wriggelen, frequentative of wriggen ‘twist, turn’.