wind
ill wind
[N-SING] usu a N
You can describe an unfortunate event as an ill wind if someone benefits from it. The expression occurs in the proverb `It's an ill wind that blows nobody any good'.
But it's an ill wind; I recovered and married one of my nurses from that hospital.sec|ond wind
[N-SING]
When you get your second wind, you become able to continue doing something difficult or energetic after you have been tired or out of breath.
Finding a second wind, he rode away from his pursuers.wind down
1 [PHRASAL VERB] V P n (not pron), V n P
When you wind down something such as the window of a car, you make it move downwards by turning a handle.
Glass motioned to him to wind down the window...
If a stranger stops you, just wind the window down a fraction.
≠ wind up
2 [PHRASAL VERB] V P
If you wind down, you relax after doing something that has made you feel tired or tense. (INFORMAL)
I regularly have a drink to wind down.
= unwind
3 [PHRASAL VERB] V P n (not pron), V P, also V n P
If someone winds down a business or activity, they gradually reduce the amount of work that is done or the number of people that are involved, usually before closing or stopping it completely.
Foreign aid workers have already begun winding down their operation...
In 1991 the Ada plant began to wind down.wind farm /w'ɪnd fɑːrm/ (wind farms)
[N-COUNT]
A wind farm is a place where windmills are used to convert the power of the wind into electricity.wind in|stru|ment /w'ɪnd ɪnstrʊmənts/ (wind instruments)
[N-COUNT]
A wind instrument is a musical instrument that you blow into in order to produce sounds, such as a flute, a clarinet, or a recorder.wind tun|nel /w'ɪnd tʌnəl/ (wind tunnels)
[N-COUNT]
A wind tunnel is a room or passage through which air can be made to flow at controlled speeds. Wind tunnels are used to test new equipment or machinery, especially cars and aeroplanes.wind up
1 [PHRASAL VERB] V P n (not pron), also V n P
When you wind up an activity, you finish it or stop doing it.
The President is about to wind up his visit to Somalia...
2 [PHRASAL VERB] V P n (not pron), also V n P
When someone winds up a business or other organization, they stop running it and close it down completely. (BUSINESS)
The Bank of England seems determined to wind up the company.
3 [PHRASAL VERB] V P prep/adv, V P -ing, V P adj/n
If you wind up in a particular place, situation, or state, you are in it at the end of a series of actions, events, or experiences, even though you did not originally intend to be.
He could wind up in gaol...
Little did I know that I would actually wind up being on the staff...
Both partners of the marriage wound up unhappy.
= finish up, end up
4 [PHRASAL VERB] V n P
When you wind up something such as the window of a car, you make it move upwards by turning a handle.
He started winding the window up but I grabbed the door and opened it.
= roll up
≠ wind down
5 [PHRASAL VERB] V n P, also V P n (not pron)
If you wind someone up, you deliberately say things which annoy them. (BRIT INFORMAL)
This woman really wound me up. She kept talking over me.
= annoy
6 [PHRASAL VERB] V n P, also V P n (not pron)
If you wind someone up, you say untrue things in order to trick them. (BRIT INFORMAL)
You're joking. Come on, you're winding me up.
= kid
7
see also wind 3, wind-up, ♦♦ wind1 /w'ɪnd/ (wind winds winding winded) AIR
1 [N-VAR]
A wind is a current of air that is moving across the earth's surface.
There was a strong wind blowing...
The leaves rustled in the wind...
2 [N-COUNT] N of n
Journalists often refer to a trend or factor that influences events as a wind of a particular kind.
The winds of change are blowing across the country...
3 [VERB] be V-ed, V n
If you are winded by something such as a blow, the air is suddenly knocked out of your lungs so that you have difficulty breathing for a short time.
He was winded and shaken...
The cow stamped on his side, winding him.
4 [N-UNCOUNT]
Wind is the air that you sometimes swallow with food or drink, or gas that is produced in your intestines, which causes an uncomfortable feeling.
5 [ADJ] ADJ n
The wind section of an orchestra or band is the group of people who produce musical sounds by blowing into their instruments.
6 [PHRASE] V inflects
If someone breaks wind, they release gas from their intestines through their anus.
7 [PHRASE] V inflects, PHR n
If you get wind of something, you hear about it, especially when someone else did not want you to know about it. (INFORMAL)
I don't want the public, and especially not the press, to get wind of it at this stage.
8 [PHRASE] V inflects
If you sail close to the wind, you take a risk by doing or saying something that may get you into trouble.
Max warned her she was sailing dangerously close to the wind and risked prosecution.
9
to throw caution to the wind: see caution♦♦ wind2 /w'aɪnd/ (wind winds winding wound) TURNING OR WRAPPING
1 [VERB] V prep/adv, V way prep/adv, V-ing
If a road, river, or line of people winds in a particular direction, it goes in that direction with a lot of bends or twists in it.
The Moselle winds through some 160 miles of tranquil countryside...
The convoy wound its way through the West Bank.
...a narrow winding road.
2 [VERB] V n prep/adv
When you wind something flexible around something else, you wrap it around it several times.
The horse jumped forwards and round her, winding the rope round her waist.
3 [VERB] V n
When you wind a mechanical device, for example a watch or a clock, you turn a knob, key, or handle on it several times in order to make it operate.
I still hadn't wound my watch so I didn't know the time.
[PHRASAL VERB] V P n (not pron), V n P
Wind up means the same as wind.
I wound up the watch and listened to it tick...
Frances took the tiny music box from her trunk and wound it up.
4 [VERB] V n adv
To wind a tape or film back or forward means to make it move towards its starting or ending position.
The camcorder winds the tape back or forward at high speed.
[N-SING] usu a N
You can describe an unfortunate event as an ill wind if someone benefits from it. The expression occurs in the proverb `It's an ill wind that blows nobody any good'.
But it's an ill wind; I recovered and married one of my nurses from that hospital.sec|ond wind
[N-SING]
When you get your second wind, you become able to continue doing something difficult or energetic after you have been tired or out of breath.
Finding a second wind, he rode away from his pursuers.wind down
1 [PHRASAL VERB] V P n (not pron), V n P
When you wind down something such as the window of a car, you make it move downwards by turning a handle.
Glass motioned to him to wind down the window...
If a stranger stops you, just wind the window down a fraction.
≠ wind up
2 [PHRASAL VERB] V P
If you wind down, you relax after doing something that has made you feel tired or tense. (INFORMAL)
I regularly have a drink to wind down.
= unwind
3 [PHRASAL VERB] V P n (not pron), V P, also V n P
If someone winds down a business or activity, they gradually reduce the amount of work that is done or the number of people that are involved, usually before closing or stopping it completely.
Foreign aid workers have already begun winding down their operation...
In 1991 the Ada plant began to wind down.wind farm /w'ɪnd fɑːrm/ (wind farms)
[N-COUNT]
A wind farm is a place where windmills are used to convert the power of the wind into electricity.wind in|stru|ment /w'ɪnd ɪnstrʊmənts/ (wind instruments)
[N-COUNT]
A wind instrument is a musical instrument that you blow into in order to produce sounds, such as a flute, a clarinet, or a recorder.wind tun|nel /w'ɪnd tʌnəl/ (wind tunnels)
[N-COUNT]
A wind tunnel is a room or passage through which air can be made to flow at controlled speeds. Wind tunnels are used to test new equipment or machinery, especially cars and aeroplanes.wind up
1 [PHRASAL VERB] V P n (not pron), also V n P
When you wind up an activity, you finish it or stop doing it.
The President is about to wind up his visit to Somalia...
2 [PHRASAL VERB] V P n (not pron), also V n P
When someone winds up a business or other organization, they stop running it and close it down completely. (BUSINESS)
The Bank of England seems determined to wind up the company.
3 [PHRASAL VERB] V P prep/adv, V P -ing, V P adj/n
If you wind up in a particular place, situation, or state, you are in it at the end of a series of actions, events, or experiences, even though you did not originally intend to be.
He could wind up in gaol...
Little did I know that I would actually wind up being on the staff...
Both partners of the marriage wound up unhappy.
= finish up, end up
4 [PHRASAL VERB] V n P
When you wind up something such as the window of a car, you make it move upwards by turning a handle.
He started winding the window up but I grabbed the door and opened it.
= roll up
≠ wind down
5 [PHRASAL VERB] V n P, also V P n (not pron)
If you wind someone up, you deliberately say things which annoy them. (BRIT INFORMAL)
This woman really wound me up. She kept talking over me.
= annoy
6 [PHRASAL VERB] V n P, also V P n (not pron)
If you wind someone up, you say untrue things in order to trick them. (BRIT INFORMAL)
You're joking. Come on, you're winding me up.
= kid
7
see also wind 3, wind-up, ♦♦ wind1 /w'ɪnd/ (wind winds winding winded) AIR
1 [N-VAR]
A wind is a current of air that is moving across the earth's surface.
There was a strong wind blowing...
The leaves rustled in the wind...
2 [N-COUNT] N of n
Journalists often refer to a trend or factor that influences events as a wind of a particular kind.
The winds of change are blowing across the country...
3 [VERB] be V-ed, V n
If you are winded by something such as a blow, the air is suddenly knocked out of your lungs so that you have difficulty breathing for a short time.
He was winded and shaken...
The cow stamped on his side, winding him.
4 [N-UNCOUNT]
Wind is the air that you sometimes swallow with food or drink, or gas that is produced in your intestines, which causes an uncomfortable feeling.
5 [ADJ] ADJ n
The wind section of an orchestra or band is the group of people who produce musical sounds by blowing into their instruments.
6 [PHRASE] V inflects
If someone breaks wind, they release gas from their intestines through their anus.
7 [PHRASE] V inflects, PHR n
If you get wind of something, you hear about it, especially when someone else did not want you to know about it. (INFORMAL)
I don't want the public, and especially not the press, to get wind of it at this stage.
8 [PHRASE] V inflects
If you sail close to the wind, you take a risk by doing or saying something that may get you into trouble.
Max warned her she was sailing dangerously close to the wind and risked prosecution.
9
to throw caution to the wind: see caution♦♦ wind2 /w'aɪnd/ (wind winds winding wound) TURNING OR WRAPPING
1 [VERB] V prep/adv, V way prep/adv, V-ing
If a road, river, or line of people winds in a particular direction, it goes in that direction with a lot of bends or twists in it.
The Moselle winds through some 160 miles of tranquil countryside...
The convoy wound its way through the West Bank.
...a narrow winding road.
2 [VERB] V n prep/adv
When you wind something flexible around something else, you wrap it around it several times.
The horse jumped forwards and round her, winding the rope round her waist.
3 [VERB] V n
When you wind a mechanical device, for example a watch or a clock, you turn a knob, key, or handle on it several times in order to make it operate.
I still hadn't wound my watch so I didn't know the time.
[PHRASAL VERB] V P n (not pron), V n P
Wind up means the same as wind.
I wound up the watch and listened to it tick...
Frances took the tiny music box from her trunk and wound it up.
4 [VERB] V n adv
To wind a tape or film back or forward means to make it move towards its starting or ending position.
The camcorder winds the tape back or forward at high speed.