Winder
name, noun, verb, slang ·Moderate ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 A winding plant.
"Two types of leguminous crops combine most of the above mentioned favourable characteristics, the vines (creepers or winders, fig. 23) and the bushes (fig. 22)."
- 2 A blow that winds somebody, or takes away their breath. slang
""Well!" exclaimed the miner. "That's a winder." He considered it a moment, said "H'm!" and proceeded with his dinner. Suddenly his face contracted with wrath. "I hope he may never set foot i' my house again," he said."
- 3 A winnowing fan.
- 4 Pronunciation spelling of window. alt-of, pronunciation-spelling
"That accounts for my having the dress, but it don't account for the piece that you left sticking to the rose-bush under Mrs. Lander's bed-room winder, which piece I took off that morning, and which piece I matched with the dress after you pitched it at me over them bannisters […]"
- 5 mechanical device around which something can be wound wordnet
Show 8 more definitions
- 6 An engine that raises and lowers the cages in a mine.
- 7 mechanical device used to wind another device that is driven by a spring (as a clock) wordnet
- 8 The person who operates such an engine.
- 9 a worker who winds (e.g., a winch or clock or other mechanism) wordnet
- 10 A textile worker, or machine, that winds cloth.
- 11 A spool around which something is wound.
- 12 A key or knob for winding a clock, watch or clockwork mechanism
- 13 One of the steps of a spiral staircase (as opposed to a flyer, or straight step).
- 1 To fan; to clean grain with a fan.
- 1 A surname originating as an occupation. countable
- 2 A placename, from the surname:; A city, the county seat of Barrow County, Georgia, United States. countable, uncountable
- 3 A placename, from the surname:; An unincorporated community in Franklin County, Idaho, United States. countable, uncountable
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
More examples"Two types of leguminous crops combine most of the above mentioned favourable characteristics, the vines (creepers or winders, fig. 23) and the bushes (fig. 22)."
Etymology
From Middle English wynder; equivalent to wind + -er.
From wind + -er.
Related to winnow.
From winder, an occupational surname for a winder of wool.
Related phrases
More for "winder"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.