waggling

verb

present participle of waggle
as in flapping
to move from side to side or up and down with quick jerky motions the rabbit waggled its ears and hopped away

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of waggling But what happens if a waggling bee is unsure of its directions? — Marta Hill, Scientific American, 15 Oct. 2026 When LaBeija, as Gus the Theatre Cat, finally strolled onstage to revisit his glory days, waggling his long, polished claws, a younger Gus (Jonathan Burke) appeared, like a mirror dancing toward him. — Emily Nussbaum, New Yorker, 16 Apr. 2026 And thanks to social media videos of their head-tilting, leg waggling antics, these web-slingers are in high demand. — Alina Hartounian, NPR, 29 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for waggling
  1. flapping
  2. flicking
  3. wagging
  4. twitching
  5. bobbing
  6. waving
  7. swishing
  8. switching
Verb
  • Birds chirp in the tree branches above, and a large yellow butterfly alights on a leaf before flapping away into the sloping sunshine.
    — Sophie Neiman, Christian Science Monitor, 5 Oct. 2026
  • That means the bird species flapping around in backyards today are effectively the only surviving dinosaurs.
    — Katie Hunt, CNN Money, 15 Sep. 2026
Definition of flapping
Verb
  • Instamall plans to keep adding brands, but it is already hooked into the inventory systems of its existing partners, so expanding the service to new cities could be as easy as flicking a switch.
    — Evan Clark, Footwear News, 19 Oct. 2026
  • Coming for a variety of longtime critics of the merger, opposition rose and suspicion about the settlement served to pour gasoline on an already flicking fire.
    — Dominic Patten, Deadline, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of flicking
Verb
  • At the time, the project felt hyperbolic, largely because of the finger-wagging interventions of Zillah, a modern-day punk anarchist who ranted about Reagan as a new Hitler.
    — Emily Nussbaum, New Yorker, 23 Oct. 2026
  • The Rolling Stones are not done wagging their Foreign Tongues.
    — Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 14 Oct. 2026
Definition of wagging
Verb
  • This is not easy for Robin (Griffin), who, judging by his nervously twitching legs and tendency to info-dump on interlocutors, finds ordinary interactions very stressful.
    — Leslie Felperin, HollywoodReporter, 18 Sep. 2026
  • Green said his symptoms began when his feet started twitching in his sleep.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 30 July 2026
Definition of twitching
Verb
  • On Collins Ave in Miami Beach, the yachts along the intracoastal were bobbing nearly at street level.
    — Alex Harris Updated September 27, Miami Herald, 27 Sep. 2026
  • The world was not watching, but the ostriches were, their heads bobbing above the pen like periscopes.
    — J. B. MacKinnon, Harpers Magazine, 22 Sep. 2026
Definition of bobbing
Verb
  • Many of those violet-clad, towel-waving fans packed Chase Center for a Game 4 watch party.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 25 Oct. 2026
  • The cast members, if not running to de-wig and get into their next costume, can be seen dancing, waving and greeting others buried in that centre-stage circus.
    — Lily Ford, HollywoodReporter, 25 Oct. 2026
Definition of waving
Verb
  • But in his own drawing, De Kooning let rip with liner brushes, swishing them about all over the paper, achieving undulant lines that contract and expand like living creatures.
    — Sebastian Smee, The Atlantic, 16 Sep. 2026
  • One displays images of water swishing around the screen’s golden frame.
    — Tania Azhang, Sacbee.com, 21 Aug. 2026
Definition of swishing
Verb
  • The celebrities sucked up a lot of air, and so the show leaned in, switching to all-celebrity casts.
    — Doreen St. Félix, New Yorker, 24 Oct. 2026
  • Anthropic’s launch of Claude Duet may be partly defensive, giving Claude Pro and Max users a way to hand off more of their daily tasks without switching to a rival’s assistant.
    — Wen Shao, Fortune, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of switching

Browse Nearby Words

waggles
waggling
wagon
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Cite this Entry

“Waggling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/waggling. Accessed 29 Oct. 2026.

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