wingle

English

Alternative forms

• winkle, weenkle, wingl, weengle, waingle, wengl

Etymology

From a merger of wangle, and dialectal Norwegian Nynorsk vingla (“to flutter, stumble about, go hither and thither, go astray, dangle”), related to Norwegian Bokmål vingle (“to wobble”), Swedish vingla (“to wobble”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /wɪŋl/
• Rhymes: -ɪŋl

Verb

wingle (third-person singular simple present wingles, present participle wingling, simple past and past participle wingled)

1. (dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) To bend or twist; wriggle back and forth.
2. (dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) To be unsteady on one's feet; to walk with an unsteady gait; wobble; meander.

Noun

wingle (plural wingles)

1. (dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) A fold or a convolution; something bent or twisted; a twist or a bend.

   That's an awful wingle of a road.

Derived terms

• wingle-wangle

References

• The Dictionary of the Scots Language
• The English Dialect Dictionary

Anagrams

• lewing