Meanings
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1
verb
To fold, crease, crumple, or wad.
He crinkled the wrapper and threw it out.
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2
verb
To rustle, as stiff cloth when moved.
The green wheat crinkles like a lake.
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3
noun
A wrinkle, fold, crease, or unevenness.
He observed the crinkles forming around his eyes and suddenly felt old.
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4
noun
a slight depression in the smoothness of a surface
Thesaurus
Etymology
From Middle English crenclen (“to bend, buckle”), from Old English *crinclian, frequentative form of Old English crincan (“to yield”), from Proto-Germanic *kringaną (“to turn, to fall, to yield”), from Proto-Indo-European *ger- (“to turn, wind”). Cognate with North Frisian krenge, krönge (“to obtain, reach, attain”), Dutch krinkelen (“to turn, wind”). Related to cringe.