winkle

 
Pronunciation: /ˈwɪŋk(ə)l/

noun

  • 1a small herbivorous shore-dwelling mollusc with a spiral shell. Also called periwinkle2.
    • Family Littorinidae, class Gastropoda: many genera and species, including the common and edible Littorina littorea
  • 2 informal a child’s term for a penis.

verb

[with object] (winkle something out) chiefly British
  • extract or obtain something with difficulty: I swore I wasn’t going to tell her, but she winkled it all out of me

Derivatives

winkler

noun

Origin:

late 16th century: shortening of periwinkle2