ginnel
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A ginnel in Barrowford, Lancashire.
English
Alternative forms
Etymology
From ginn (“a road or passage down to the sea”) + -el (diminutive suffix), ultimately from Old English ginn (“a side expanse, an opening, abyss”).
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈɡɪnəl/
- Rhymes: -ɪnəl
Noun
ginnel (plural ginnels)
- (England, especially Yorkshire, Lancashire, Manchester) A narrow passageway or alley often between terraced houses.
- 1885, Benjamin Brierley, Ab-o'th'-Yate in Yankeeland, page 59:
- […] maks things as pleasant as stondin in a ginnel ov a wyndy neet waitin o'th' sweetheart comin out.
- 1988, Alan Hollinghurst, The Swimming-Pool Library, paperback edition, London: Penguin Books, →ISBN, page 169:
- At the end of a short side-street a narrow ginnel with concrete bollards led into the surprisingly wide area in which the blocks of flats stood.
- 2014 September 7, “Spitfire”, Aaron Davis (lyrics), performed by Davis, Aaron [as Bugzy Malone], JDZ Media:
- Pssht, get over here, whoopie / Finish him like Sub-Zero / Out the window, into the garden / Over the fence and straight through the ginnel
Synonyms
- ennog, snicket, twitchel
- See also Thesaurus:alley