Winkle
[WINK-əl]
Part of speech: verb
Origin: British, late 16th century
1.
Extract or obtain something with difficulty.
2.
(Noun) A small herbivorous shore-dwelling mollusk with a spiral shell.
Examples of Winkle in a sentence
"The interrogator was used to winkling confessions out of the most hard boiled subjects."
"The dock and side of the boat was freckled with winkles and barnacles."
About Winkle
This word originated from a shortening of the word “periwinkle” — a mollusk with a spiral shell usually found along shores and beaches.
Did you Know?
Ever considered singing “Winkle, winkle, little star”? Winkle’s other less-known meaning as a verb is something that “gleams or glows,” which means the substitution would work, as odd as it might sound!
