wind Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun air moving (sometimes with considerable force) from an area of high pressure to an area of low pressure
    air current; current of air.
    • 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 atmosphere
  2. noun a tendency or force that influences events
    • the winds of change
  3. noun breath
    • the collision knocked the wind out of him
  4. noun empty rhetoric or insincere or exaggerated talk
    jazz; nothingness; malarky; idle words; malarkey.
    • that's a lot of wind
    • don't give me any of that jazz
  5. noun an indication of potential opportunity
    lead; hint; tip; steer; confidential information.
    • he got a tip on the stock market
    • a good lead for a job
  6. noun a musical instrument in which the sound is produced by an enclosed column of air that is moved by the breath
    wind instrument.
  7. noun a reflex that expels intestinal gas through the anus
    fart; flatus; farting; breaking wind.
  8. noun the act of winding or twisting
    twist; winding.
    • he put the key in the old clock and gave it a good wind
  9. verb to move or cause to move in a sinuous, spiral, or circular course
    wander; meander; thread; weave.
    • the river winds through the hills
    • the path meanders through the vineyards
    • sometimes, the gout wanders through the entire body
  10. verb extend in curves and turns
    twist; curve.
    • The road winds around the lake
    • the path twisted through the forest
  11. verb arrange or or coil around
    wrap; twine; roll.
    • roll your hair around your finger
    • Twine the thread around the spool
    • She wrapped her arms around the child
  12. verb catch the scent of; get wind of
    scent; nose.
    • The dog nosed out the drugs
  13. verb coil the spring of (some mechanical device) by turning a stem
    wind up.
    • wind your watch
  14. verb form into a wreath
    wreathe.
  15. verb raise or haul up with or as if with mechanical help
    lift; hoist.
    • hoist the bicycle onto the roof of the car

WordNet

Wind transitive verb
Etymology
OE. winden, AS. windan; akin to OS. windan, D. & G. winden, OHG. wintan, Icel. & Sw. vinda, Dan. vinde, Goth. windan (in comp.). Cf. Wander, Wend.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Wound (rarely Winded); present participle & verbal noun Winding
Definitions
  1. To turn completely, or with repeated turns; especially, to turn about something fixed; to cause to form convolutions about anything; to coil; to twine; to twist; to wreathe; as, to wind thread on a spool or into a ball.
    Whether to wind The woodbine round this arbor. Milton.
  2. To entwist; to infold; to encircle.
    Sleep, and I will wind thee in arms. Shak.
  3. To have complete control over; to turn and bend at one's pleasure; to vary or alter or will; to regulate; to govern. "To turn and wind a fiery Pegasus." Shak.
    In his terms so he would him wind. Chaucer.
    Gifts blind the wise, and bribes do please And wind all other witnesses. Herrick.
    Were our legislature vested in the prince, he might wind and turn our constitution at his pleasure. Addison.
  4. To introduce by insinuation; to insinuate.
    You have contrived . . . to wind Yourself into a power tyrannical. Shak.
    Little arts and dexterities they have to wind in such things into discourse. Gov. of Tongue.
  5. To cover or surround with something coiled about; as, to wind a rope with twine.
Wind intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To turn completely or repeatedly; to become coiled about anything; to assume a convolved or spiral form; as, vines wind round a pole.
    So swift your judgments turn and wind. Dryden.
  2. To have a circular course or direction; to crook; to bend; to meander; as, to wind in and out among trees.
    And where the valley winded out below, The murmuring main was heard, and scarcely heard, to flow. Thomson.
    He therefore turned him to the steep and rocky path which . . . winded through the thickets of wild boxwood and other low aromatic shrubs. Sir W. Scott.
  3. To go to the one side or the other; to move this way and that; to double on one's course; as, a hare pursued turns and winds.
    The lowing herd wind lowly o'er the lea. Gray.
    To wind out, to extricate one's self; to escape. Long struggling underneath are they could wind Out of such prison. Milton.
Wind noun
Definitions
  1. The act of winding or turning; a turn; a bend; a twist; a winding.
Wind noun
Etymology
AS. wind; akin to OS., OFries., D., & G. wind, OHG. wint, Dan. & Sw. vind, Icel. vindr, Goth winds, W. gwynt, L. ventus, Skr. vata (cf. Gr. 'ah`ths a blast, gale, 'ah^nai to breathe hard, to blow, as the wind); originally a p. pr. from the verb seen in Skr. va to blow, akin to AS. wawan, D. waaijen, G. wehen, OHG. waen, wajen, Goth. waian. Cf. Air, Ventail, Ventilate, Window, Winnow.
Definitions
  1. Air naturally in motion with any degree of velocity; a current of air.
    Except wind stands as never it stood, It is an ill wind that turns none to good. Tusser
    .
    Winds were soft, and woods were green. Longfellow.
  2. Air artificially put in motion by any force or action; as, the wind of a cannon ball; the wind of a bellows.
  3. Breath modulated by the respiratory and vocal organs, or by an instrument.
    Their instruments were various in their kind, Some for the bow, and some for breathing wind. Dryden.
  4. Power of respiration; breath.
    If my wind were but long enough to say my prayers, I would repent. Shak.
  5. Air or gas generated in the stomach or bowels; flatulence; as, to be troubled with wind.
  6. Air impregnated with an odor or scent.
    A pack of dogfish had him in the wind. Swift.
  7. A direction from which the wind may blow; a point of the compass; especially, one of the cardinal points, which are often called the four winds.
    Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain. Ezek. xxxvii. 9.
    ✍ This sense seems to have had its origin in the East. The Hebrews gave to each of the four cardinal points the name of wind.
  8. (Far.) A disease of sheep, in which the intestines are distended with air, or rather affected with a violent inflammation. It occurs immediately after shearing.
  9. Mere breath or talk; empty effort; idle words.
    Nor think thou with wind Of airy threats to awe. Milton.
  10. (Zoöl.) The dotterel. Prov. Eng. ✍ Wind is often used adjectively, or as the first part of compound words.
Wind transitive verb
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Winded; present participle & verbal noun Winding
Definitions
  1. To expose to the wind; to winnow; to ventilate.
  2. To perceive or follow by the scent; to scent; to nose; as, the hounds winded the game.
  3. (a) To drive hard, or force to violent exertion, as a horse, so as to render scant of wind; to put out of breath. (b) To rest, as a horse, in order to allow the breath to be recovered; to breathe.
Wind transitive verb
Etymology
From Wind, moving air, but confused in sense and in conjugation with wind to turn.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Wound R Winded; present participle & verbal noun Winding
Definitions
  1. To blow; to sound by blowing; esp., to sound with prolonged and mutually involved notes. "Hunters who wound their horns." Pennant.
    Ye vigorous swains, while youth ferments your blood, . . . Wind the shrill horn. Pope.
    That blast was winded by the king. Sir W. Scott.

Webster 1913