wriggler
(ˈrɪglə(r))
[f. wriggle v. + -er1.]
1. One who or that which wriggles; esp. a wriggling fish, animalcule, etc.
| 1674 N. Fairfax Bulk & Selv. Ep. Ded., The Fryes of Wrigglers..peep out of their Graves and Dungeons. 1694 Motteux Rabelais v. Progn. v. 237 Drabs, Trulls, Light⁓skirts, Wrigglers, Misses. a 1825 Forby Voc. E. Anglia II. 381 Wrigglers, small fish, of which commoner names are sand-eels or lance-fish. 1896 in Advance (Chicago) 18 June 897/2 To make the little wriggler [= a child] sit still. 1914 Melbourne Argus 17 March 13 Mosquitoes..in the larval state..are known as wrigglers. |
2. fig. One who makes his way by subtle, ingratiating, or underhand means.
| 1631 A. Wilson Swisser ii. i. 163 To obserue the tyme, yee wriglers. There is an ytching height that all do ayme at, But diuers wayes to come to 't. 1785 Cowper Tiroc. 432 Providence,..In spite of all the wrigglers into place, Still keeps a seat or two for worth and grace. |
3. (See quot.)
| 1900 Daily Mail 31 Oct., Wrigglers are engravers who devote their working hours to the tracing of those zig-zag lines which are so often a feature of cheap Britannia metal teapots. |