1. Home
2. Idioms
3. wrinkle

wrinkle

---

---

iron out the wrinkles (of/in something)

1. Literally, to remove wrinkles from something, especially a piece of fabric, using a flatiron. Your new dress shirt is all rumpled! You'll need to iron out the wrinkles before you go to the ceremony this evening. I have to iron out the wrinkles in this tablecloth before our guests arrive.

2. By extension, to ease, solve, or remove minor difficulties, troubles, or problematic details (of or in something). (Sometimes worded as "some wrinkles," "a few wrinkles," etc.) Our latest software update is nearly finished—we just need to iron out a few wrinkles before it's ready for release. Your friends and family are great means of support when you need to iron out the wrinkles of your life. Bob and Janet are seeing a counselor to try and iron out the wrinkles in their marriage.

See also: iron, out, wrinkle

iron the wrinkles out (of/in something)

1. Literally, to remove wrinkles from something, especially a piece of fabric, using a flatiron. Your new dress shirt is all rumpled! You'll need to iron the wrinkles out before you go to the ceremony this evening. I have to iron out the wrinkles in this tablecloth before our guests arrive.

2. By extension, to ease, solve, or remove minor difficulties, troubles, or problematic details (of or in something). (Sometimes worded as "some wrinkles," "a few wrinkles," etc.) Our latest software update is nearly finished—we just need to iron a few wrinkles out before it's ready for release. Your friends and family are great means of support when you need to iron the wrinkles out in your life. Bob and Janet are seeing a counselor to try and iron some wrinkles out of their marriage.

See also: iron, out, wrinkle

get the wrinkles out

 (of something)

1. Lit. to remove the wrinkles from fabric by ironing or flattening in some way. This has been packed in my suitcase for a week, and I know I'll never be able to get the wrinkles out of it.

2. Fig. to eliminate some initial, minor problems with an invention, a procedure, a computer program, or a mechanical device. I need more time working with this system to get the wrinkles out.

See also: get, out, wrinkle

wrinkle something up

to make something get wrinkles and creases. I love the way you wrinkle your nose up. Don't wrinkle up your jacket.

See also: up, wrinkle

wrinkle up

[for something] to draw up in wrinkles; [for something] to become wrinkled. His nose wrinkled up as he smelled the burning pie. The cloth wrinkled up in the intense heat.

See also: up, wrinkle

new wrinkle

A clever device or expedient, a novelty, as in The players added a new wrinkle to victory celebrations by tossing their shirts to the crowd after the game . In the form of simply a wrinkle, this expression dates from the mid-1700s, new being added two centuries later.

See also: new, wrinkle

penis wrinkle

n. a despised person, usually a male. (Also a term of address.) Get out of here, penis wrinkle.

See also: wrinkle

wrinkle

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.

wrinkle-rod

n. the crankshaft of an engine. A wrinkle-rod’ll set you back about $199, plus installation charges, of course.