Word.ws English Dictionary

pilliwinks

Syllables: pil·li·winks/ˈpɪlɪwɪŋks/US/ˈpɪliˌwɪŋks/

pilliwinks noun: a torture device for squeezing the fingers; a thumbscrew.

pilliwinks: a torture device for squeezing the fingers; a thumbscrew
Image: Marcin Wichary from San Francisco, U.S.A, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

pilliwinks pl (plural only)

  1. (Scotland, historical, plural, plural-only) A torture device for squeezing the fingers; a thumbscrew.
    • [H]er maiſter to the intent that he might the better trie and finde out the truth of the ſame, did with the help of others, torment her with the torture of the Pilliwinkes upon her fingers, which is a grieuous torture, [...][1592?], attributed to James Carmichael, Newes from Scotland. Declaring the Damnable Life of Doctor Fian a Notable Sorcerer, who was Burned at Edenbrough in Ianuarie last. 1591. […], [London]...
    • On the 24th June 1596, John Stewart, Maſter of Orkney, was indicted for conſulting with Aliſon Balfour, a witch, for the deſtruction of Patrick Earl of Orkney, his brother, by poiſon.— [...] No regard can be had to it, in reſpect the ſaid confeſſion was extorted by force of torment; [...] her...1774, [John] Maclaurin, “Introduction to the Criminal Cases”, in Arguments, and Decisions, in Remarkable Cases, before the High Court of Justiciary, and Other Supreme Courts, in Scotland, Edinburgh...

Forms of pilliwinks

alternative formpinnywinkles

Origin of pilliwinks

From Middle English pirewinkes (“instrument of torture for squeezing the thumbs, thumbscrew”) [and other forms]; further origin unknown. It has been suggested that the word is a variant of Middle English pervink, pervinke (“periwinkle (plant; Vinca minor or Vinca major); (figuratively) evil man”), but the Oxford English Dictionary doubts this due to the difference in meaning. Compare Swedish pille-, related to pilla (“fiddle with the fingers”).

Questions about pilliwinks

What does pilliwinks mean?
Pilliwinks means a torture device for squeezing the fingers; a thumbscrew.
What part of speech is pilliwinks?
Pilliwinks is a noun.
How do you pronounce pilliwinks?
Pilliwinks is pronounced /ˈpɪlɪwɪŋks/ (UK).

Words near pilliwinks in the dictionary

  1. pillionist
  2. pillionists
  3. pillions
  4. pillionwise
  5. pilliwinkes
  6. pilliwinks
  7. pillmaker
  8. pillmakers
  9. pillmaking
  10. pillmonger
  11. pillmongers

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: pilliwinks (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-pilliwinks.wav.

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