Green’s Dictionary of Slang

to obtain what one wants, often through a degree of manipulation or cunning; also as n. a self-advancing strategem.

[1888		C.T. Jacobi Printers’ Vocab. 153: Wangle, a slang term used by printers to express arranging or ‘faking’ matters to one’s own satisfaction or convenience].
1904		Marvel 22 Oct. 30: There’ll be plenty of time to wangle round Maria.
1919		J. Buchan Mr Standfast (1930) 602: I’m due to go today, but the grouse up in Caithness wanted shootin’ so badly that I decided to wangle another day’s leave.
1923		Kipling ‘A Madonna of the Trenches’ in Debits and Credits (1926) 247: He wangled me into ’is Platoon when I went out.
1933		N. Algren ‘So Help Me’ in Texas Stories (1995) 16: I had a hunch I could wangle a meal out of him if I just hung on a minute.
1941		V. Davis Phenomena in Crime 25: One [i.e. a suit] I ‘wangled’ — I knew it was stealing, but the old Army phrase sounded better.
1956		‘Charles Raven’ Und. Nights 111: I managed to wangle my favourite job of R.C. Redband.
1962		R. Hauser Homosexual Society 158: The one who ‘fiddles’ tools from the factory or who ‘wangles’ an income tax return.
1974		‘P.B. Yuill’ Hazell Plays Solomon (1976) 61: All cops reserve a special nausea for smart lawyers who wangle known villains off well-deserved stretches.
1980		T. McClenaghan Submariners I ii: My mate Ginger wangled a transfer to the marines.
1996		Dandy Book n.p.: ‘That gives me an idea for a wangle’.
1998		R.G. Barrett Mud Crab Boogie (2013) [ebook] ‘To be honest, it’s a bit of a bludge [...] I can always wangle a night off’.
1999		K. Sampson Powder 170: He had obviously been pulling strings to wangle the slot.