winkle-hawk

English

Alternative forms

• winklehawk

Etymology

Borrowed from Dutch winkelhaak (“try square, rectangular tear or cut”), from Middle Dutch winkelhake (“try square”).

Noun

winkle-hawk (plural winkle-hawks)

1. (obsolete, New York, rare) A rectangular tear or cut in clothing or any other fabric, shaped like a try square.
   • 1861 July, “Norman Sinclair. An Autobiography”, in Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, volume 90, page 44:

     The spekilation ha'n't turned out just so good as I expected, but it might have been worse ; anyhow, it's a comfort to walk off without a winkle-hawk in one's character for 'cuteness.

   • 1908 November 11, "Hahne & Co." (advertisement), Elizabeth Daily Journal, evening edition, page 4.

     NOTE—Some are slightly imperfect through mill stains or “winkle hawks”—hardly noticeable.

   • 1914, The Editor; the Journal of Information for Literary Workers, page 197:

     And if out of our experiences we create no more pretentious effort than a hand-book on "The Care of Cutlery," or "The Preservation of Tin Roofs," or "The Mending of Winkle-hawks in Youth's Clothing," we are sure of appreciative readers, and for consolation for what may seem lack of the artistic we will have our regular, continuous royalty payments.

   • 1922, Leona Dalrymple, Fool's Hill, page 241:

     You've said yourself that everything you own's got some kind of a winkle hawk patched over in the seat.

   • 1932, Katharine Newlin Burt, The Tall Ladder, page 81:

     Some broken harness to be mended, a loose door to be hinged, two saddles that needed oiling, and a mass of untidy canvas to be inspected for rents and winkle-hawks.