wrinkle
/ˈɹɪŋkl̩/ noun, verb, proper noun
Forms wrinkles wrinkling wrinkled wrincle
- noun A small furrow, ridge or crease in an otherwise smooth surface.
- noun A line or crease in the skin, especially when caused by age or fatigue. “Spending time out in the sun may cause you to develop wrinkles sooner.”
- noun A fault, imperfection or bug especially in a new system or product; typically, they will need to be ironed out. “We need to iron out the wrinkles in the plan before implementing it.”
- noun (informal) A twist on something existing; a novel difference. “We've added a couple of new wrinkles to the policy.”
- verb (transitive) To make wrinkles in; to cause to have wrinkles. “Be careful not to wrinkle your dress before we arrive.”
- verb (intransitive) To pucker or become uneven or irregular. “An hour in the tub will cause your fingers to wrinkle.”
- verb (intransitive, of skin) To develop irreversibly wrinkles; to age. “The skin is the substance that wrinkles, shows age, stretches, scars and cuts.”
- verb (intransitive, obsolete) To sneer (at).
- noun (US, dialect) A winkle
- proper noun A surname.
Synonyms
furrow crease crinkle seam line purse ruckle scrunch scrunch up crisp rumple crumple
Etymology
From Middle English wrinkle, wrynkel (“crease, fold, wrinkle”), from the verb (see below). Cognate with Dutch wrinkel (“wrinkle, crease”). Compare also Middle English runkel (“wrinkle”), from Old Norse hrukka (“wrinkle”), from Proto-Germanic *hrunkwǭ (“wrinkle, crease”), whence also French fronce (“crooked smile, scowl, frown”), German Runzel (“wrinkle”), Danish rynke (“wrinkle”), Swedish rynka and rynkla (“wrinkle”).
From Middle English wrynklen, wrinklen (“to wrinkle”), from Old English *wrinclian (attested in past participle ġewrinclod (“wrinkled, crooked, winding”)). Cognate with Middle Dutch wronckelen, wrinckelen (“to wind, wrap, meander”), modern dialectal Dutch wrinkelen (“to wrinkle”). Compare also Middle English runklen (“to wrinkle, become wrinkled”).
Webster’s 1913
- noun A winkle. [Local, U.S.]
- noun A small ridge, prominence, or furrow formed by the shrinking or contraction of any smooth substance; a corrugation; a crease; a slight fold; as, wrinkle in the skin; a wrinkle in cloth. "The wrinkles in my brows." Shak.
- noun hence, any roughness; unevenness.
- verb To contract into furrows and prominences; to make a wrinkle or wrinkles in; to corrugate; as, wrinkle the skin or the brow. "Sport that wrinkled Care derides." Milton.
Etymology [OE. wrinkil, AS. wrincle; akin to OD. wrinckel, and prob. to Dan. rynke, Sw. rynka, Icel. hrukka, OHG. runza, G. runzel, L. ruga. 1. A small ridge, prominence, or furrow formed by the shrinking or contraction of any smooth substance; a corrugation; a crease; a slight fold; as, wrinkle in the skin; a wrinkle in cloth. "The wrinkles in my brows." Shak. Within I do not find wrinkles and used heart, but unspent youth. Emerson. 2. hence, any roughness; unevenness. Not the least wrinkle to deform the sky. Dryden. 3. Etym: [Perhaps a different word, and a dim. AS. wrenc a twisting, deceit. Cf. Wrench, n.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “wrinkle”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details