Sc. Also 8 wraple. [Of obscure origin; connection with WARP v. or with WRAP v. is possible.]
1. trans. To entangle, intertwine. Also fig.
1768. Ross, Helenore, 80. Nory’s heart began to cool right fast, Fan she saw things had taken sick a cast, An’ sae thro’ ither warpl’d [1789, p. 86. wrapl’d] were, that she Began to dread atweesh ther, what meith be.
1825. Jamieson, Suppl. s.v., That yarn’s sae warplit, that I canna get it redd. Ibid., Warple v.,… used in a moral sense, to denote the confusion of any business.
2. intr. To move with sinuous movement; also to walk unsteadily.
1768. [See WARPLING vbl. sb.].
1887. Service, Dr. Duguid, III. iii. 254. Her auld guidman … cam warplin’ an’ fanklin’ owre the muirs by himsel.
3. To twist or wind round. Also fig.
a. 1870. D. Thomson, Musings among Heather (1881), 227. Warl’s griefs an’ cares are unco rife, An’ warple roond a body’s life.
1890. A. J. Armstrong, Ingleside Musings, 141. They [sc. tawse] warpled roun’ his lanky shanks Like snakes aroon’ ‘Laocoon.’
Hence Warpled ppl. a.; Warpling vbl. sb., the action of the verb; † warpling o’ the green, a rustic game.
1768. Ross, Helenore, i. 10. Whan she among the neiper bairns was seen, At greedy-glad or warpling o’ the green, She ’clipst them ’a.
1897. ‘L. Keith,’ My Bonny Lady, vii. 71. An old quarrel’s like warplit wool that cannot be redd in a minute.
