wangle out of
wangle out of (someone or something)
1. To succeed in extricating oneself from some unpleasant or undesirable situation, duty, or responsibility by tricky, clever, or deceitful means. He's always trying to wangle out of working the graveyard shift, but it won't work this time. The slippery little weasel managed to wangle out of legal liability for the financial train wreck she left behind at the company.
2. To succeed in extricating someone else from some unpleasant or undesirable situation, duty, or responsibility by tricky, clever, or deceitful means. The young entrepreneur's lawyer managed to wangle him out of a hefty prison sentence for his role in the scandal. Thankfully, our guide managed to wangle us out of a sticky situation with the local police.
3. To succeed in obtaining something from one by tricky, clever, or deceitful means. In this usage, a noun or pronoun is used between "wangle" and "out" to refer either to the thing being taken or the person or group from whom it is taken. I managed to wangle some free products out of the people who are running the promotional event. He used the damaging information to wangle more money out of the company as part of his severance package. I had a sneaking suspicion that she was trying to wangle me out of my inheritance.
See also: of, out, wangle
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
wangle out of something
Fig. to get out of having to do something; to argue or deceive one's way out of a responsibility. Don't try to wangle out of this mess. You must stay and fix the problems you made. Mary managed to wangle out of staying late again.
See also: of, out, wangle
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
- wangle (one's) way out of (something)
- wangle out of (someone or something)
- bloodsucker
- play dirty
- not (one's) first barbecue
- not (one's) first rodeo
- be on the fiddle
- steal (one) blind
- steal someone blind
- on the fiddle