Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

winkle out

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.71 in modern English

Syllables: win-kle out
IPA

16

Scrabble Score

9

Letters

2

Syllables

9

Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

To acquire with difficulty, as by thorough scrutiny.

British usage; Transitive verb

verb

To get (something or someone) out of an entrenched position.

Transitive verb

Example Sentences

"Tom managed to winkle the truth out of John eventually."
"He watched her blink rapidly and choose a difference sort of release: “I mean, since you’re so good at winkling people out!”"
"[…] was mopping up the remnants of German resistance and trying to winkle out individual enemy soldiers from their hiding places."
"[…] using cloak-and-dagger methods to winkle out unwanted tenants and assemble vacant sites […]"

Etymology

From winkle (“to extract”), from periwinkle (“a mollusk”).

Usage

British usage
Transitive verb

Inflected Forms

winkles out (present, singular) winkling out (participle, present) winkled out (participle, past) winkled out (past)

Synonyms

winkle

Questions

What does winkle out mean?: To acquire with difficulty, as by thorough scrutiny.
Where does winkle out come from?: From winkle (“to extract”), from periwinkle (“a mollusk”).

How to pronounce winkle out

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