winkle

Etymology

Short for periwinkle.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɪŋkəl

Noun

winkle (plural winkles)

1. A periwinkle or its shell, of family Littorinidae.
2. Any one of various marine spiral gastropods, especially, in the United States, either of two species Busycotypus canaliculata and Busycon carica.
   • 1899, American Primary Teacher, volume 23, page 95:

     Mrs. Winkle (Fulgar carica). As there are no trees in the ocean, they pride themselves on their "family tails," which are quite as ancient and just as important.

   • 1912, Daniel Melancthon Tredwell, Personal Reminiscences of Men and Things on Long Island:

     There were also found fragments of the winkle (Fulgar carica).

   • 1913, Bulletin of the Bureau of Fisheries, volume 31, Part 2, page 707:

     Busycon canaliculatum (Say). Conch shell; locally called "winkle."

   • 1931, Bureau of Fisheries Document, volume 922, page 217:

     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.

   • 1938, Meyer Bodansky, ‎Oscar Bodansky, Introduction to physiological chemistry, page 250:

     This seems to be true also of other hemocyanins; for example, the hemocyanin of Busycon, or winkle, a large marine snail, was found to have the following molecular weights

   • (Can we date this quote?), Vlad Evanoff - 1953, Natural Salt Water Fishing Baits, page 31:

     commonest is the channeled whelk (Busycon canaliculatum), also called the conch or winkle, and is found from Cape Cod to northern Florida.

   • 1969, Frank E. Firth, The encyclopedia of marine resources, page 139:

     Catch and commercial statistics for Busycon along the eastern seaboard of the U.S. from 1940. States included: New England […] In Connecticut, the so-called "winkle" chowder is made from B. canaliculatum.

3. (children's slang) The penis, especially that of a boy rather than that of a man.
   • 2004, Robert Priest, How to Swallow a Pig

     After all, he didn't want his winkle to get so big it became unruly and unnatural.

Verb

winkle (third-person singular simple present winkles, present participle winkling, simple past and past participle winkled)

1. To extract.

See also

• winkle out
• Wikipedia article on the winkle (gastropod)

Anagrams

• Wilken, welkin