finagle
verb /fɪˈneɪɡl/
/fɪˈneɪɡl/
[transitive, intransitive] (informal, especially North American English)Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they finagle | /fɪˈneɪɡl/ /fɪˈneɪɡl/ |
| he / she / it finagles | /fɪˈneɪɡlz/ /fɪˈneɪɡlz/ |
| past simple finagled | /fɪˈneɪɡld/ /fɪˈneɪɡld/ |
| past participle finagled | /fɪˈneɪɡld/ /fɪˈneɪɡld/ |
| -ing form finagling | /fɪˈneɪɡlɪŋ/ /fɪˈneɪɡlɪŋ/ |
- finagle (something) to behave dishonestly or to obtain something dishonestly
- He finagled some tickets for tonight's big game.
Word Origin1920s (originally US): from dialect fainaigue ‘cheat’; perhaps from Old French fornier ‘deny’.