squirm

1. (intransitive) To twist one's body with snakelike motions.Examples: "The prisoner managed to squirm out of the straitjacket."; "[…] 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."; ""Throw it away, dear, do," she said, as they got into the road; but Jacob squirmed away from her […]"Synonyms: writhe, wriggleintransitive

2. (intransitive) To twist in discomfort, especially from shame or embarrassment.Examples: "I recounted the embarrassing story in detail just to watch him squirm."; "MARIGOLD: Should I tell them I know? DORA: Nah, let ’em squirm. Let’s go get some pie."Synonyms: fidgetintransitive