# squirm

> English word · Verb · IPA /skwɜːm/ · frequency rank #38,177

## Definitions
1. To twist one's body with snakelike motions.
2. To twist in discomfort, especially from shame or embarrassment.
3. To evade a question, an interviewer etc.

## Etymology
First recorded 1690's, originally used of eels; cognate with Scots squimmer (“to wriggle, squirm”). Of uncertain origin. Compare dialectal quirm, whirm (“to disappear quickly, vanish suddenly and mysteriously”), Norwegian kverva (“to turn around, take away, remove, shrink”), from Old Norse hverfa (“to turn, vanish”). Alternatively, perhaps imitative or related to worm (in the sense of writhing movement) or swarm.

## Easily confused with
- **Sturm** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/squirm-vs-sturm)
- **squirt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/squirm-vs-squirt)
- **squish** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/squirm-vs-squish)
- **squid** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/squid-vs-squirm)
- **square** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/square-vs-squirm)
- **squire** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/squire-vs-squirm)
- **squint** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/squint-vs-squirm)

## Common misspellings (9)
`qsuirm`, `sqiurm`, `sqquirm`, `squimr`, `squirmm`, `squirrm`, `squrim`, `ssquirm`, `suqirm`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/squirm