Winkle out

Meaning: To get something out with effort, cleverness, or persistence. Like prying information, a secret, or an object out of somewhere it’s stuck or hidden.
Think "extract bit by bit" — same idea as how you get a winkle, a type of sea snail, out of its shell.

Pronounced: _WINK-uhl out_
Mostly British English

Sentence:
The journalist finally *winkled out* the truth after asking the CEO the same question 5 different ways.

Other examples:
- I *winkled out* the last cookie from the back of the jar.
- It took her an hour to *winkle out* the USB drive that was jammed in the port.
- He managed to *winkle out* a discount even though the sale was over.

Quick way to remember:
Winkle out = *W*ork + *in* + *kle*ver + *out*. You don’t get it easily, you have to tease it out.