Definition of crinkum-crankum in English:
crinkum-crankum
noun krɪŋkəmˈkraŋkəmˌkrɪŋkəmˈkræŋkəm
mass nounarchaic Elaborate decoration or detail.
Example sentencesExamples
- Ay, here's none of your straight lines here, but all taste, zig-zag, crinkum-crankum, in and out, right and left, so and again, twisting like a worm.
- The crackle-glaze boulder shapes, the crinkum-crankum ledges, the skewed pagoda silhouettes of the mountains belonged to no Occidental geography.
Origin
Mid 17th century: fanciful reduplication of the nouns crank1 and crank2.
Definition of crinkum-crankum in US English:
crinkum-crankum
nounˌkrɪŋkəmˈkræŋkəmˌkriNGkəmˈkraNGkəm
archaic Elaborate decoration or detail.
Example sentencesExamples
- Ay, here's none of your straight lines here, but all taste, zig-zag, crinkum-crankum, in and out, right and left, so and again, twisting like a worm.
- The crackle-glaze boulder shapes, the crinkum-crankum ledges, the skewed pagoda silhouettes of the mountains belonged to no Occidental geography.
Origin
Mid 17th century: fanciful reduplication of the nouns crank and crank.