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Fine Dictionary

squirm

skwərm
WordNet
The sea nymph Scylla, fleeing from Glaucus, on the left with beard and squirming fish tail, reaches out his arms to her. Glaucus was a fisherman who turned into a sea centaur after eating magic herbs and fell in love with Scylla.
The sea nymph Scylla, fleeing from Glaucus, on the left with beard and squirming fish tail, reaches out his arms to her. Glaucus was a fisherman who turned into a sea centaur after eating magic herbs and fell in love with Scylla.
  1. (v) squirm
    to move in a twisting or contorted motion, (especially when struggling) "The prisoner writhed in discomfort","The child tried to wriggle free from his aunt's embrace"
  2. (n) squirm
    the act of wiggling
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
  1. Squirm
    skwẽrm To twist about briskly with contortions like an eel or a worm; to wriggle; to writhe.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
  1. squirm
    To wriggle or writhe, as an eel or a worm; hence, to writhe mentally.
  2. squirm
    To climb by wriggling; “shin”: as, to squirm up a tree.
  3. (n) squirm
    A wriggling motion, like that of a worm or an eel.
  4. (n) squirm
    Nautical, a twist in a rope.
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary
  1. (v.i) Squirm
    skwirm to wriggle or writhe, to climb by wriggling up: to escape with any awkward evasion or lie.
Etymology

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary Cf. Swarm to climb a tree

Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary A variant of squir=whir.

Usage in the news

Vick's new dog's in no danger, it's good for his kids - & it might make him squirm . philly.com

Actor Thomas Haden Church can't blame much on squirm -worthy Killer Joe. sacurrent.com

But politicians in both parties are squirming over how to define the Thing. minnesota.publicradio.org

'Tis the Season for Every Democratic Candidate to Squirm When Asked If He Supports Obama. slate.com

Mormons shouldn't squirm in the spotlight. deseretnews.com

A Rate Sleuth Making Rental Car Companies Squirm . nytimes.com

'Cyrus' is a comedy that may make you squirm . stltoday.com

Ellen Makes Taylor Squirm . countryweekly.com

Will Google Make ComScore, Nielsen Squirm . eweek.com

He's Making Hay As CEOs Squirm . businessweek.com

Microsoft late Tuesday warned that the Zotob worm could start squirming through certain configurations of Windows XP SP1 (Service Pack 1). eweek.com

Gymnast Aly Raisman's Parents Wince , Squirm Watching Her Compete. usmagazine.com

To some, the Obama-Romney rematch was squirm-inducing. bdtonline.com

Most Americans would squirm when even thinking of eating a grasshopper or locust. netnebraska.org

Squirm all you want, this is more than likely something we will see in our time. k99.com

Usage in scientific papers

Note also that for squirming motion, where the shape of the swimmer surface remains constant (uS · n = 0), Eq. (10) simplifies further.
The hydrodynamics of swimming microorganisms

Interactions between two cells were studied analytically and numerically for two different cases, spherical squirming (swimming motion where all surface deformation occurs tangentially to the swimmer surface) [176, 177] and swimming with a single helical flagellum [178].
The hydrodynamics of swimming microorganisms

On the squirming motion of nearly spherical deformable bodies through liquids at very small Reynolds numbers.
The hydrodynamics of swimming microorganisms

Usage in literature

I saw him hug it up tight again as he stopped squirming. "Phyllis" by Maria Thompson Daviess

He lifted the squirming small boy who had not spoken a word. "Pearl of Pearl Island" by John Oxenham

The three little darkies, in calico smocks, stood squirming in line while Lindy proudly surveyed them. "More Toasts"

A porter from the rear car squirmed and wriggled his way down to the seat occupied by the Flopper. "The Miracle Man" by Frank L. Packard

The pathway squirmed and wriggled like a snake, the trees and bushes bowed, the sky bobbed up and down. "A Woman Named Smith" by Marie Conway Oemler

There was a splash and he pulled out a squirming eel. "The Day of the Beast" by Zane Grey

Somehow he had managed to squirm through the crowd. "The Camp Fire Girls on the Farm" by Jane L. Stewart

When she raised the lid there was that pillow-case squirming around as if it were alive. "The Little Colonel's House Party" by Annie Fellows Johnston

He squirmingly demurred at this last operation, and successfully resisted it. "Bunker Bean" by Harry Leon Wilson

Lescot squirmed under his eye; Thuriot turned pale and trembled. "Count Hannibal A Romance of the Court of France" by Stanley J. Weyman

Usage in poetry
It costs me never a stab nor squirm
To tread by chance upon a worm.
"Aha, my little dear," I say,
"Your clan will pay me back one day."
This done, with a dignified mien
The two squirmed up on the machine,
And rode gayly away,
Or at least, so they say,
Who witnessed the wonderful scene.
And now I hear our despot's call,
And come, like Hassan, to the hall,--
If there's a slave, I am one,--
My bait no longer flies, but worms!
I 've caught--Lord bless me! how he squirms!
An eel, and not a salmon!
They bid me grovel, squirm and whine,
Nor strive against vile calumny;
And vain the thought that would decline
Submission to such tyranny;
For like a wild beast from its lair,
The state doth hound me to despair.
It's okay if the world goes with Venetian;
Who cares what Italians don't see?--
Or with Man's Bluff (a temporary problem
Healed by shrieks and cheating)--or with date:
Three hours of squirming repaid by laughs for years.
So spiked to my chair with horror, there I shuddered and saw
Her fingrs frenziedly clutching and squeezing with all their might
Something that squirmed and struggled, a deamon of tooth and claw,
Fighting with fear and fury, under her garment white.