slither

An unseasonable weather pattern that included heavy rain and sweltering heat served as a signal for rattlesnakes to slither out of their underground winter burrows in search of food and mates.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 21, 2026

Still, he held on to a slither of hope.

From Barron's ● Feb. 27, 2026

Mystified, he wanders the dank halls of their rented palazzo and the fetid alleyways of the “pestilential city” where canal waters slither past like “a fat, grey-green worm.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2025

In Monsoon’s episode, musical notes soar through the air and slither around characters to detain them, all special effects that were added as CGI in postproduction.

From Seattle Times ● May 10, 2024

Some also believe, mistakenly, that snakes cannot slither over the rails, so they sleep there for protection.

From "Enrique's Journey" by Sonia Nazario

"You take multiple pictures, sometimes over 100 and it takes tiny little slithers of focus, and then you put all those into software, and that creates your final image."

From BBC ● Dec. 29, 2025

Especially this kind of bullying Rodgers is engaging in, where he slithers away from direct conflict with Kimmel — which he'd fail at — and instead petulantly tries to inflict harm from afar.

From Salon ● Mar. 15, 2024

You stand stock-still until it quiets down and slithers on its way.

From Slate ● Aug. 19, 2023

In it, a humanoid form slithers back and forth, its movements startlingly alien.

From New York Times ● Dec. 29, 2022

The dragon’s teeth part, and a long, lavender tongue slithers toward Jeanne.

From "The Inquisitor's Tale" by Adam Gidwitz

Throughout the World Cup, the team slithered away from trouble again and again … until the final game.

From Slate ● Jul. 20, 2026

Huang sent the BBC a video from her village's WeChat group, which showed several residents looking alarmed as a large black snake slithered on their mud-covered floor.

From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2026

But she clipped the wall of the halfpipe halfway down the course and slithered to the base, losing a ski.

From Barron's ● Feb. 19, 2026

They spontaneously linked together to form chains that slithered through some obstacles and surrounded other objects.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 1, 2025

The sword in Finn’s hands writhed and he dropped it to the ground, where it twitched like a cornstalk in the wind and slithered into a nearby tent.

From "Bone Gap" by Laura Ruby

I managed to hold it like that, balanced on the throttle, slithering and sidestepping, until I had to join the main straight.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026

The promotional contents within tap into parents’ grief with a slithering sort of sympathy: “You want more time together . . . you’re not ready to forget.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026

Set against a slithering, seductive Chicago house beat, it’s really more of a command, one that the Queen of Pop immediately follows with another decree: “Come on, meet me on the dance floor.”

From Salon ● Jul. 8, 2026

Half asleep, she reached out for her dog - and instead found herself petting a smooth, slithering object.

From BBC ● Jan. 15, 2026

Creatures of every sort zigzag, bolt, scream, swing, gallop, grunt, and whinny; they are everywhere, swinging on ropes and slithering up poles, hiding under wagons, pressed against sidewalls, and skidding across the center.

From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen