waggle

/ˈwægəl/

Other forms: waggled; waggling; waggles

To move back and forth or up and down very quickly (and a little erratically) is to waggle. I don't recommend that you waggle your arm under your teacher's face to get his attention. Try raising your hand politely instead.

This word sounds like a cross between wiggle and wag. Just watch a really excited dog's tail moving and you'll get a sense of waggle's origin — it does derive from wag and its Old English root wagian, "move backwards and forwards." In golf, you waggle a club by swinging it around a bit before hitting the ball. And beekeepers describe the "waggle dance" honeybees perform to communicate information to each other.

Definitions of waggle

1. noun

   causing to move repeatedly from side to side
   synonyms: shake, wag

   type of:

   agitation

   the act of agitating something; causing it to move around (usually vigorously)
2. verb

   move from side to side
   synonyms: wag

   type of:

   jiggle, joggle, wiggle

   move to and fro
3. verb

   move unsteadily or with a weaving or rolling motion
   synonyms: wamble

   type of:

   move

   move so as to change position, perform a nontranslational motion