Meaning of wind in English

Table of contents
  1. Pronunciation
  2. Verb
    1. Etymology
    2. Definitions
  3. Noun
    1. Etymology
    2. Definitions

  1. Pronunciation

    US accent

    UK accent

  1. Verb

    wind

    Etymology

    Old English windan ‘go rapidly’, ‘twine’, of Germanic origin; related to wander and wend

    Definitions

    1. to move or cause to move in a sinuous, spiral, or circular course

    Examples

    • « the river winds through the hills »
    • « the path meanders through the vineyards »
    • « sometimes, the gout wanders through the entire body »

    Derived terms

  2. 2. extend in curves and turns

    Examples

    • « The road winds around the lake »

    Derived terms

  3. 3. wrap or coil around

    Examples

    • « roll your hair around your finger »
    • « Twine the thread around the spool »

    Antonyms

    Derived terms

  4. 4. catch the scent of

    Examples

    • « get wind of »
    • « The dog nosed out the drugs »

    Derived terms

  5. 5. coil the spring of (some mechanical device) by turning a stem

    Examples

    • « wind your watch »

    Derived terms

  6. 6. form into a wreath
  7. 7. raise or haul up with or as if with mechanical help

    Examples

    • « hoist the bicycle onto the roof of the car »

    Derived terms

  8. Noun

    wind

    Etymology

    Old English, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch wind and German Wind, from an Indo-European root shared by Latin ventus

    Definitions

    1. air moving (sometimes with considerable force) from an area of high pressure to an area of low pressure

    Examples

    • « 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 »
  9. 2. a tendency or force that influences events

    Examples

    • « the winds of change »
  10. 3. breath

    Examples

    • « the collision knocked the wind out of him »
  11. 4. empty rhetoric or insincere or exaggerated talk

    Examples

    • « that's a lot of wind »
    • « don't give me any of that jazz »
  12. 5. an indication of potential opportunity

    Examples

    • « he got a tip on the stock market »
    • « a good lead for a job »

    Derived terms

  13. 6. a musical instrument in which the sound is produced by an enclosed column of air that is moved by the breath
  14. 7. a reflex that expels intestinal gas through the anus

    Derived terms

  15. 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

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