waggle

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.

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈwaɡəl/

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  Rhymes: -æɡəl

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.

2. (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[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]:

     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[ichard] 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.

waggle (plural waggles)

1. A wobbling motion.

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

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

• waggel