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Winch
Definitions
- 1 A surname from Old English. countable, uncountable
- 1 A machine consisting of a drum on an axle, a friction brake or ratchet and pawl, and a crank handle or prime mover (often an electric or hydraulic motor), with or without gearing, to give increased mechanical advantage when hoisting or hauling on a rope or cable.
- 2 lifting device consisting of a horizontal cylinder turned by a crank on which a cable or rope winds wordnet
- 3 A hoisting device used for loading or unloading cargo, or for pulling in lines.
"It runs on clattering steel tracks; the driver sits in a cab over the tracks, operating the controls that rotate the arm and turn the winch."
- 4 A wince (machine used in dyeing or steeping cloth).
- 5 A kick, as of an animal, from impatience or uneasiness.
"the mule[…]being likewise frighted by that terrible blow, ran away as fast as it could about the fields, and within two or three winches overthrew him to the ground"
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- 6 A witch. Nigeria, slang
- 1 To use a winch
"Winch in those sails, lad!"
- 2 To wince; to shrink
"It is not the first time a cat-o'-nine-tails has been across my back for other men's misdeeds. Promise me a good flask of brandy when I'm done with it, and I warrant ye I'll never winch."
- 3 to court Scotland, ambitransitive, colloquial
"They “clicked” each other, kidded each other, and by and by they would “winch” and marry each other."
- 4 pull or lift up with or as if with a winch wordnet
- 5 To kick with impatience or uneasiness.
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- 6 to kiss, snog Scotland, ambitransitive, colloquial
"She turned and looked at me, amused, gave a wee chuckle, kissed me on the mouth hard and quick, and again, and we were kissing for real, lingering, soft and moist and warm, me and Jeannie winching, and I wanted it not to stop."
Etymology
From Middle English wynche, from Old English winċe, from Proto-Germanic *winkijǭ, ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European *weng- (“to bow, bend, arch, curve”), whence also wink.
From Middle English wynche, from Old English winċe, from Proto-Germanic *winkijǭ, ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European *weng- (“to bow, bend, arch, curve”), whence also wink.
See wince.
Variant form of wench.
Various origins: * A topographic surname for someone who lived at a place where boats were hauled up onto the land by means of pulleys, from Old English winċe (“winch”). * From the second part of Old English hlēapewince (“lapwing”), probably a nickname.
See also for "winch"
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