winding

gerund of wind; The act of winnowing (“subjecting food grain to a current of air to separate the grain from the chaff”).attributivecountableuncountable

gerund of wind; The act of blowing air through a wind instrument or (chiefly) a horn to make a sound.countableuncountable

• [W]e savv a Fox run by the Foot of our Mount into an adjacent Thicket. A fevv Minutes after, vve heard a confuſed Noiſe of the opening of Hounds, the vvinding of Horns, and the roaring of Country Squires.

Causing one to be breathless or out of breath.not-comparableusually

Of a horn or wind instrument: blown to make a sound.not-comparableusually

present participle and gerund of windform-ofgerundparticiple

gerund of wind; The act of twisting something, or coiling or wrapping something around another thing.countableuncountable

• Then there was […] a vast deal of screwing and tightening, and winding and tuning, during which Mrs. Briggs expatiated to those near her on the immense difficulty of playing a guitar, and hinted at the wondrous proficiency of her daughters

gerund of wind; A curving, sinuous, or twisting movement; twists and turns.countableespeciallyin-plural

• [T]here vvill be hurly burly, like as ye ſee in a man vvhen he dieth; vvhat deformity appeareth, hovv he ſtretcheth out all his members, vvhat a vvinding is there, ſo that all his body cometh out of frame?
• Eugene Forsarde, the reviewer in question, follows Currer Bell [Brontë's pseudonym] through every winding, discerns every point, discriminates every shade, proves himself master of the subject, and lord of the aim.

gerund of wind; A curving, sinuous, or twisting form.countableespeciallyin-plural

• Berenice ſtandeth upon the utmoſt vvinding and nouke of Syrtis, called ſometime the cittie of the above-named Heſperides, according to the vvandering tales of Greece.
• The Labyrinth] A building ſo entangled in vvindings and cyrcles, that it deceiueth all that come in it.

gerund of wind; Chiefly followed by up: the act of tightening the spring of a clockwork or other mechanism.countableuncountable

• Is there a Tongue, like Delia’s o’er her cup, / That runs for Ages vvithout vvinding-up?

gerund of wind; Sometimes followed by up: the act of hoisting something using a winch or a similar device.countableuncountable

gerund of wind; Twists and turns in an occurrence, in thinking, or some other thing; also, moral crookedness; craftiness, shiftiness.countablefigurativelyin-plural

• For that vvhich he hath novv attained vvith the begging of ſome ſmall peeces of ſiluer, a temporall happins, & preſent hearts eaſe, I cannot compaſſe vvith all my carefull vvindings, & running in & out.
• Its [facetiousness's] vvays are unaccountable and inexplicable, being anſvverable to the numberleſs rovings of fancy, and vvindings of language.

gerund of wind; The act or process of turning a boat or ship in a certain direction.UKcountableuncountable

gerund of wind; A variation in a tune.countableobsoleteuncountable

• Among the windings of the violins / And the ariettes / Of cracked cornets / Inside my brain a dull tom-tom begins / Absurdly hammering a prelude of its own, / Capricious monotone / That is at least one definite "false note."

Something wound around another thing.countableuncountable

• For knovv by lot from Jove I am the povvr / Of this fair VVood, and live in Oak'n bovvr, / To nurſe the Saplings tall, and curl the grove / VVith ringlets quaint, and vvanton vvindings vvove.

Something wound around another thing.; A length of wire wound around the armature of an electric motor or the core of an electrical transformer.countableuncountable

Moving in a sinuous or twisting manner.

• [H]e [Satan] vvindes himſelfe into this vvinding Beaſt, diſpoſing the Serpents tongue to ſpeake to the vvoman [Eve] […]
• Let her forbeare / To taſt thoſe things that are forbidden there. / […] / The ſuck-egge VVeaſell, and the vvinding Svvallovv, / From theſe ſhe ſhall abſtaine, and not unhallovv / Her op'ned lips vvith their polluted fleſh; […]

Sinuous, turning, or twisting in form.

• The thinges that hinder a man vvhich loketh at his marke, to ſhoote ſtreight, be theſe: […] a payre of windinge prickes, and many other thinges mo, which you ſhall marke yourſelfe, and as ye knovv them, ſo learne to amende them.
• The Current that vvith gentle murmure glides / (Thou knovv'ſt) being ſtop'd, impatiently doth rage: / […] / And ſo by many vvinding nookes he ſtraies / VVith vvilling ſport to the vvilde Ocean.

Sinuous, turning, or twisting in form.; Chiefly of a staircase: helical, spiral.

• In yᵉ Cour aux Thuilleries is a princely fabriq; the winding geometrical stone stayres, with the cupola, I take to be as bold and noble a piece of architecture as any in Europ of the kind.

Of speech, writing, etc.: not direct or to the point; rambling, roundabout.figuratively

• I will not heare thee, wife; / The winding laborinth of thy straunge discourse / Will nere haue end.

Flexible, pliant.obsolete

• To theſe blemiſhes and ſtaines in Court, vvere adjoyned the enormious tranſgreſſions of diſcipline in campe, vvhen the ſouldiour in ſtead of a joyfull ſhout, ſtudied to ſing vvanton ſonnets: neither had the armed man, as before time, a ſton

Morally crooked; crafty, shifty.figurativelyobsolete

• I care not though men call me impudent, / Smooth-tongu'd, audacious, petulant, abhominable, / Forger of vvords and lie, contentious Barretour, / Old, vvinding, bragging, teſty, crafty fox.

present participle and gerund of windform-ofgerundparticiple