winkle
/ˈwɪŋkəl/
winkle noun: a periwinkle or its shell, of family Littorinidae.
Noun
winkle (plural winkles)
- A periwinkle or its shell, of family Littorinidae.
- […] because the inward Eare is intorted like a winkle-shell, and hangeth as a bell in thee steeple of the body, it easily perceiueth all appulsions of the Ayre.1615, Helkiah Crooke, Mikrokosmographia, a Description of the Body of Man, London: William Jaggard, Book 8, Chapter 25, p. 610
- Shrimps and winkles are the staple commodities of the afternoon trade, which lasts from three to half-past five in the evening. These articles are generally bought by the working-classes for their tea.1851, Henry Mayhew, London Labour and the London Poor, volume 1, London: G. Newbold, page 64
- Synonyms:
- oyster drill
- Any one of various marine spiral gastropods, especially, in the United States, either of two species Busycotypus canaliculatus or Busycon carica.
- There were also found fragments of the winkle (Fulgar carica).1912, Daniel Melancthon Tredwell, Personal Reminiscences of Men and Things on Long Island
- The conchs or winkles, Busycon carica (fig. 204, opp. p. 216) and B. canaliculata, ... He gave the estimate of one planter who believed that one winkle was able to destroy a bushel of oysters in a single hour.1931, Bureau of Fisheries Document, volume 922, page 217
- Synonyms:
- Fulgar carica, Busycon canaliculata
- The penis, especially that of a child rather than that of an adult.
- After all, he didn't want his winkle to get so big it became unruly and unnatural.2004, Robert Priest, How to Swallow a Pig
Verb
winkle (third-person singular simple present winkles, present participle winkling, simple past and past participle winkled)
- Synonym of winkle out (“to acquire or extract with difficulty”).
- Synonyms:
- winkle out
Proper noun capitalized: Winkle
Winkle (plural Winkles)
- A surname.
Examples of winkle in a sentence
- Sometimes late at night men would come in with a pail of winkles they had bought cheap, and share them out.1933 January 9, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], chapter XXV, in Down and Out in Paris and London, London: Victor Gollancz...
- In Connecticut, the so-called "winkle" chowder is made from B. [Busycon] canaliculatum.1969, Frank E. Firth, The encyclopedia of marine resources, page 139:
Synonyms of winkle
- oyster drill
- Fulgar carica
- Busycon canaliculata
- winkle out
Forms of winkle
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | winkles |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | winkles |
| present participle | winkling |
| past participle | winkled |
| past | winkled |
| Proper noun | |
| plural | Winkles |
Origin of winkle
Ellipsis of periwinkle.
Words formed from winkle
Phrases with winkle
Words that rhyme with winkle
Questions about winkle
- What does winkle mean?
- Winkle means a periwinkle or its shell, of family Littorinidae.
- How do you use winkle in a sentence?
- Sometimes late at night men would come in with a pail of winkles they had bought cheap, and share them out.
- What part of speech is winkle?
- Winkle can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce winkle?
- Winkle is pronounced /ˈwɪŋkəl/.
- What is the plural of winkle?
- The plural of winkle is winkles.
Words near winkle in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: winkle (page history and authors); Winkle (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.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-winkle.ogg.
Cite this entry: “winkle.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/winkle. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.