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wrinkle

 [ring-kuhl]   Origin

wrin·kle

1   [ring-kuhl] noun, verb, -kled, -kling.
noun
1.
a small furrow or crease in the skin, especially of the face, as from aging or frowning.
2.
a temporary slight ridge or furrow on a surface, due to contraction, folding, crushing, or the like.
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verb (used with object)
3.
to form wrinkles in; corrugate; crease: Don't wrinkle your dress.

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So is subtilize. Does it mean:
to chew (food) slowly and thoroughly.
to introduce subtleties into or argue subtly about.
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verb (used without object)
4.
to become wrinkled.
Origin:
1375–1425; late Middle English (noun), back formation from wrinkled, Old English gewrinclod, past participle of gewrinclian to wind round; perhaps akin to wrick, wrench
Dictionary.com Unabridged

wrin·kle

2   [ring-kuhl]
noun Informal.
an ingenious trick or device; a clever innovation: a new advertising wrinkle.
Origin:
1375–1425; late Middle English, equivalent to wrinc trick (Old English wrenc; see wrench) + -le
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
wrinkle1 (ˈrɪŋkəl)
 
—n
1.  a slight ridge in the smoothness of a surface, such as a crease in the skin as a result of age
 
—vb
2.  to make or become wrinkled, as by crumpling, creasing, or puckering
 
[C15: back formation from wrinkled, from Old English gewrinclod, past participle of wrinclian to wind around; related to Swedish vrinka to sprain, Lithuanian reñgti to twist. See wrench]
 
'wrinkleless1
 
—adj
 
'wrinkly1
 
—adj

wrinkle2 (ˈrɪŋkəl)
 
—n
informal a clever or useful trick, hint, or dodge
 
[Old English wrenc trick; related to Middle Low German wrank struggle, Middle High German ranc sudden turn. See wrench]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

wrinkle
late 14c. (in wrinkling), probably from stem of O.E. gewrinclod "wrinkled, crooked, winding," pp. of gewrinclian "to wind, crease," from perfective prefix ge- + -wrinclian "to wind," from P.Gmc. *wrankjan (see wrench (v.)). Meaning "defect, problem" first recorded 1640s;
EXPAND
that of "idea, device, notion" (especially a new one) is from 1817. The verb is attested from 1520s.
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Slang Dictionary

wrinkle definition


  1. n.
    a new idea; a new aspect of something. : Here's a clever wrinkle for you. Nobody has ever tried this one.
  2. n.
    a minor problem. : A wrinkle has developed in the Wilson proposal.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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