pilnie-winks

noun

An ancient form of torture for the fingers.

Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

noun
  1. historicalAn ancient form of torture for the fingers.

    [S]end me that hag hither; she shall avouch what it was that she hath given to the wretch Dryfesdale, or the pilniewinks and thumbikins shall wrench it out of her finger-joints.

    1820, [Walter Scott], chapter V², in The Abbot. […], volume III, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne & Co.] for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; and for Archibald Constable and Company, and John Ballantyne, […], →OCLC, pages 173–174

Origin

Corruption of periwinkle.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

pilnie-winks. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pilnie-winks

MLA

“pilnie-winks.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pilnie-winks. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pilnie-winks,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pilnie-winks.

Source: pilnie-winks on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.