name, noun, verb, slang ·Common ·High school level
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"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."
"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"
"Winch in those sails, lad!"
"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."
"They “clicked” each other, kidded each other, and by and by they would “winch” and marry each other."
"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."
"I've never used a winch before. Could you show me how?"
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.
Common synonyms include: windlass, anchor winch, capstan, capstans, companion, crab.
I've never used a winch before. Could you show me how?
Pronounced /wɪnt͡ʃ/.
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.