winkle
/ˈwɪŋkəl/ noun, verb, proper noun
Forms winkles winkling winkled
- noun A periwinkle or its shell, of family Littorinidae.
- noun Any one of various marine spiral gastropods, especially, in the United States, either of two species Busycotypus canaliculatus or Busycon carica.
- noun (childish, slang) The penis, especially that of a child rather than that of an adult.
- verb Synonym of winkle out (“to acquire or extract with difficulty”).
- proper noun A surname.
Synonyms
oyster drill Fulgar carica Busycon canaliculata winkle out periwinkle twinkle scintillate flash blink wink
Etymology
Ellipsis of periwinkle.
Webster’s 1913
- noun Note: These are large mollusks which often destroy large numbers of oysters by drilling their shells and sucking their blood. Sting winkle, a European spinose marine shell (Murex erinaceus). See Illust. of Murex.
Etymology [AS. wincle.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “winkle”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details