drinkle

D2R1I1N1K5L1E1
/ˈdɹɪŋkl̩/

verb

To drink (an alcoholic beverage); also, to cause (someone) to drink such a beverage; to drench; to drown.

OriginMiddle English drinklen ← Old English *drenclian →
Scrabble 12
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Meanings

verbdrinkle (third-person singular simple present drinkles, present participle drinkling, simple past and past participle drinkled)

present singular third person drinkles · participle present drinkling · participle past drinkled · past drinkled · alternative drenkle

  1. transitiveTo drink (an alcoholic beverage); also, to cause (someone) to drink such a beverage; to drench; to drown.

    We built a fire in the huge fireplace, then sat around drinkling bootleg beer and whiskey, compliments of Joe himself, Valley High's greatest athlete.

    1965, John Treadwell Nichols, The Sterile Cuckoo
  2. intransitiveTo drink an alcoholic beverage; also, to become intoxicated; to get drunk.

    'Get this one into bed and it's a royal flush!' His face twinkled, his gums sparkled, his eyes kindled, his brow darkened. I bridled and bristled, nettled and rankled, then drinkled and drankled some more.

    2009, Claire Kilroy, All Names Have Been Changed
  3. intransitiveTo drown.

    And the Mercury states that "the heavy rain drenched the field, and most betook themselves to a retreat, but the rats were all drinkled".

    1900, George Borrow, “Notes to Lavengro, with Corrections, Identifications and Translations”, in Lavengro […], new edition, London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, page 562

Origin

  1. Old Englishdrenċan“to give to drink, give drink to, drench, make drunk, ply with drink; soak, saturate; submerge, drown, plunge; sink”
  2. Old English*drenclian“to drown”
  3. Middle Englishdrinklen
  4. Englishdrinkle

From Middle English drinklen, drinkelen, drenklen (“to plunge, drown”), from Old English *drenclian (“to drown”), frequentative form of Old English drenċan (“to give to drink, give drink to, drench, make drunk, ply with drink; soak, saturate; submerge, drown, plunge; sink”), equivalent to drink + -le and drench + -le. Compare dronkle, drunkle.

More words from Middle English, Old English

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with drinkle

wrinklesprinkletwinklewinklecrinkletinkleatinkleatwinkleblinklechinkleholy-water sprinkleinklekinklestrinkletincal
All rhymes →

Anagrams

kindler
Cite this entry
APA

drinkle. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/drinkle

MLA

“drinkle.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/drinkle. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “drinkle,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/drinkle.

Source: drinkle on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.