Meaning of wind in English
Table of contents
Pronunciation
US accent
UK accent
Verb
windEtymology
Old English windan ‘go rapidly’, ‘twine’, of Germanic origin; related to wander and wendDefinitions
1. to move or cause to move in a sinuous, spiral, or circular courseExamples
- « the river winds through the hills »
- « the path meanders through the vineyards »
- « sometimes, the gout wanders through the entire body »
Derived terms
- 2. extend in curves and turns
Examples
- « The road winds around the lake »
Derived terms
- 3. wrap or coil around
Examples
- « roll your hair around your finger »
- « Twine the thread around the spool »
Antonyms
Derived terms
- 4. catch the scent of
Examples
- « get wind of »
- « The dog nosed out the drugs »
Derived terms
- 5. coil the spring of (some mechanical device) by turning a stem
Examples
- « wind your watch »
Derived terms
- 6. form into a wreath
- 7. raise or haul up with or as if with mechanical help
Examples
- « hoist the bicycle onto the roof of the car »
Derived terms
Noun
windEtymology
Old English, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch wind and German Wind, from an Indo-European root shared by Latin ventusDefinitions
1. air moving (sometimes with considerable force) from an area of high pressure to an area of low pressureExamples
- « trees bent under the fierce winds »
- « when there is no wind, row »
- « the radioactivity was being swept upwards by the air current and out into the atmo »
- 2. a tendency or force that influences events
Examples
- « the winds of change »
- 3. breath
Examples
- « the collision knocked the wind out of him »
- 4. empty rhetoric or insincere or exaggerated talk
Examples
- « that's a lot of wind »
- « don't give me any of that jazz »
- 5. an indication of potential opportunity
Examples
- « he got a tip on the stock market »
- « a good lead for a job »
Derived terms
- 6. a musical instrument in which the sound is produced by an enclosed column of air that is moved by the breath
- 7. a reflex that expels intestinal gas through the anus
Derived terms
- 8. the act of winding or twisting
Examples
- « he put the key in the old clock and gave it a good wind »
Derived terms
Famous quotes
- « Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather. » John Ruskin
- « The writing is really hard. You're alone. It really pulls it out of you. You pull it out of your head. But when you're a director, you're shopping - you're picking this actor, you're picking this scene. It's like the most intense kinetic high-speed shopping of all time. You sit in a chair and it will all come rushing at you like a wind tunnel. » Tony Gilroy
- « Religion theme aside, most of the time I'm in some sort of comedy and I'm a straight man and it's really just, let's wind this guy up and see him explode. » Colin Hanks
- « I keep sailing on in this middle passage. I am sailing into the wind and the dark. But I am doing my best to keep my boat steady and my sails full. » Arthur Ashe
- « Absence diminishes mediocre passions and increases great ones, as the wind extinguishes candles and fans fires. » Francois de La Rochefoucauld