How to Use squirm in a Sentence

squirm

verb
Definition of squirmnext
Synonyms for squirmnext
  • The frog squirmed out of his hands.
  • The gory details of the story had me squirming in my seat.
  • He tried to hold onto her but she squirmed free.
  • The children squirmed with delight.
  • The baby squirmed a lot when I tried to hold him.
  • She squirmed under her father's angry stare.
  • There's a video of the baby squirming in the pool for the first time.
    — Carol Motsinger, Cincinnati.com, 18 Jan. 2018
  • The child giggled and squirmed out of their arms during the long hearing.
    — BostonGlobe.com, 12 Oct. 2019
  • Try not to squirm -- this one goes by the strange, slithery nickname, Worm Moon.
    — CNN, 28 Mar. 2021
  • Duke’s Grayson Allen isn’t squirming when the subject comes up.
    — Rick Bonnell, charlotteobserver, 17 May 2018
  • Ter Stegen almost stopped the spot kick, which squirmed under him and over the line.
    — Joseph Wilson, chicagotribune.com, 14 Apr. 2018
  • Their eyes on their teacher, a dozen preschoolers squirmed to claim their chance.
    — Washington Post, 18 July 2019
  • The girls, one of whom sat on her mother’s lap, squirmed and played a pat-a-cake-like game during the hearing.
    — Corinne Ramey, WSJ, 26 June 2018
  • The audience was shocked that Abbott did not scream and squirm.
    — Carl Zimmer, Discover Magazine, 25 Mar. 2019
  • From one draft to the next, characters squirm into new shapes.
    — Becca Rothfeld, The New Yorker, 9 Jan. 2023
  • Truong then grabbed the boy's arm, pulled him close and molested the child who squirmed and dropped to the floor to try to escape, police said.
    — Serena O'Sullivan, azcentral, 1 Aug. 2019
  • The ball is popped into the middle of the circle and the players push against each other and gain ground up the pitch until the ball squirms out of the scrum.
    — SI.com, 31 July 2019
  • Propped up on a tripod, low to the floor, the Telenoid squirms to life once activated.
    — Alex Mar, WIRED, 17 Oct. 2017
  • Axis deer can leap over fences up to 5 feet tall, though Seale said most squirm out from under them.
    — René A. Guzman, San Antonio Express-News, 16 Mar. 2021
  • Stay grounded, don’t squirm, fidget or look at your phone.
    — Jack Kelly, Forbes, 4 Nov. 2021
  • Kapito was married at 13 and has a toddler son named Moses, who squirms on her lap.
    — Abigail Haworth, Marie Claire, 19 Mar. 2018
  • Bob squirmed to get away, but Hadley held on, and a few seconds later, the crew pulled them both out of the water with the line attached to Hadley’s suit.
    — Cathy Free, Washington Post, 18 Jan. 2024
  • President Biden, of course, is causing some Democrats to squirm.
    — Alex Leary, WSJ, 26 Oct. 2022
  • Meanwhile, as the kids squirm, the alligator widens its jaws.
    — Katie Hill, Outdoor Life, 17 Jan. 2024
  • Dante then did something that made my audience squirm in their seats.
    — Brian Davids, The Hollywood Reporter, 30 May 2023
  • The Liverpool goalkeeper allowed Bale's shot to squirm through his hands into the net in the 83rd.
    — Rob Harris, Houston Chronicle, 26 May 2018
  • The Liverpool goalkeeper allowed Bale’s shot to squirm through his hands into the net in the 83rd.
    — Rob Harris, BostonGlobe.com, 26 May 2018
  • His plates with rare fruits and vegetables, along with various things that squirm, seem to have touched a nerve.
    — Anthony Faiola, Washington Post, 16 Jan. 2018
  • To gauge the bot's success, the researchers wanted to see whether the fingers could withstand the forces of the squirming animals.
    — Jennifer Leman, Popular Mechanics, 28 Aug. 2019
  • The ball squirmed inside the right post despite Gonzalez's attempt to keep it out.
    — CiarÁn Fahey, USA TODAY, 27 Jan. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'squirm.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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