MEANING
1. To move with small twisting or wriggling motions.
2. To feel or display embarrassment or discomfort.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- squirm beneath a sheet
On the page
Something squirmed beneath the sheet.
The child squirmed in the narrow chair.
Nearby words
Related words
Word forms
- Base
- squirm
- Past tense
- squirmed
- Past participle
- squirmed
- Present participle
- squirming
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- squirm
- Present continuous
- am/is/are squirming
- Present perfect
- have/has squirmed
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been squirming
- Past
- squirmed
- Past continuous
- was/were squirming
- Past perfect
- had squirmed
- Past perfect continuous
- had been squirming
- Future
- will squirm
- Future continuous
- will be squirming
- Future perfect
- will have squirmed
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been squirming
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
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Usage notes
Primary category: horror. Forms: squirm; squirms; squirmed; squirmed; squirming Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Third-person singular: squirms.
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