squirm
v.v. to move your body in a small, uncomfortable way because you are embarrassed or in pain. You might do this when you are sitting on something sharp or when you are trying to hide a secret.
v. to move the body in a restless, uneasy, or painful manner. Often describes physical discomfort or emotional distress that manifests as involuntary movement.
The little boy began to squirm when the doctor touched his arm.
She could feel the heat of the room and started to squirm in her seat as the interview questions became more difficult.
The witness squirmed under the prosecutor's relentless questioning, clearly struggling to maintain a composed facade while the evidence against him mounted.
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.