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Squirm vs Squawk - What's the difference?

squirm | squawk |

As verbs the difference between squirm and squawk

is that squirm is to twist one’s body with snakelike motions while squawk is to make a squawking noise; to yell, scream, or call out shrilly.

As nouns the difference between squirm and squawk

is that squirm is a twisting, snakelike movement of the body while squawk is a shrill noise, especially made by a voice or bird; a yell, scream, or call.

squirm

English

Verb

(en verb)
  • To twist one’s body with snakelike motions.
    • The prisoner managed to squirm out of the straitjacket.
  • * 1918 , (Edgar Rice Burroughs), Chapter IV
    • ...around us there had sprung up a perfect bedlam of screams and hisses and a seething caldron of hideous reptiles, devoid of fear and filled only with hunger and with rage. They clambered, squirmed and wriggled to the deck, forcing us steadily backward, though we emptied our pistols into them.
  • * 1922 , (Virginia Woolf), (w, Jacob's Room) Chapter 1
    • "Throw it away, dear, do," she said, as they got into the road; but Jacob squirmed away from her...
  • To twist in discomfort, especially from shame or embarrassment.
    • I recounted the embarrassing story in detail just to watch him squirm .
  • * 2010 , , Questionable Content 1686: Twist in the Wind
    • MARIGOLD: Should I tell them I know?
    DORA: Nah, let ’em squirm . Let’s go get some pie.
  • To evade (a question, an interviewer etc).
  • (figuratively) To move in a slow, irregular motion.
  • * {{quote-news
    • , year=2011 , date=February 5 , author=Michael Kevin Darling , title=Tottenham 2 - 1 Bolton , work=BBC citation , page= , passage=The Dutchman then missed a retaken second spot-kick, before the Trotters hit back when Daniel Sturridge's shot squirmed under Heurelho Gomes. }}

    Derived terms

    * squirmage * squirmish * squirmishness * squirmy

    Synonyms

    * (twist with snakelike motions) writhe, wriggle * (twist in discomfort) fidget

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A twisting, snakelike movement of the body.

    • squawk

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A shrill noise, especially made by a voice or bird; a yell, scream, or call.
  • (aviation) A four-digit transponder code used by aircraft for identification or transmission of emergency signals.
  • (aviation) An issue or complaint related to aircraft maintenance.
  • The American night heron.

    • Verb

    (en verb)
  • To make a squawking noise; to yell, scream, or call out shrilly.
  • *
    • The hens woke up squawking with terror because they had all dreamed simultaneously of hearing a gun go off in the distance.
  • To speak out; to protest.
  • To report an infraction; to rat on or tattle; to disclose a secret.
  • (aviation) To set or transmit a four-digit transponder code.

    • Conjugation

    (en-conj-simple) English onomatopoeias