▸ wind down
1 PHRASAL VERB When you wind down something such as the window of a car, you make it move downwards by turning a handle. □ [V P n] Glass motioned to him to wind down the window. □ [V n P ] If a stranger stops you, just wind the window down a fraction.
2 PHRASAL VERB If you wind down , you relax after doing something that has made you feel tired or tense. [INFORMAL ] □ [V P ] I regularly have a drink to wind down.
3 PHRASAL VERB 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. □ [V P n] Foreign aid workers have already begun winding down their operation. □ [V P ] In 1991 the Ada plant began to wind down. [Also V n P ]
▸ wind up
1 PHRASAL VERB When you wind up an activity, you finish it or stop doing it. □ [V P n] The President is about to wind up his visit to Somalia. [Also V n P ]
2 PHRASAL VERB When someone winds up a business or other organization, they stop running it and close it down completely. [BUSINESS ] □ [V P n] There was no alternative but to wind up the business. [Also V n P ]
3 PHRASAL VERB 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. □ [V P prep/adv] He could wind up in gaol. □ [V P v-ing] Little did I know that I would actually wind up being on the staff. □ [V P adj/n] Both partners of the marriage wound up unhappy.
4 PHRASAL VERB When you wind up something such as the window of a car, you make it move upwards by turning a handle. □ [V n P ] He started winding the window up but I grabbed the door and opened it.
5 PHRASAL VERB If you wind someone up , you deliberately say things which annoy them. [BRIT , INFORMAL ] □ [V n P ] This woman really wound me up. She kept talking over me. [Also V P n]
6 PHRASAL VERB If you wind someone up , you say untrue things in order to trick them. [BRIT , INFORMAL ] □ [V n P ] You're joking. Come on, you're winding me up. [Also V P n]
7 → see also wind ➋ 3 , wind-up , wound up SYNONYMS wind NOUN ➊1
breeze: …a cool summer breeze.
gust: A gust of wind drove down the valley.
draught: On a cold day there can be quite a draught from the letterbox.
wind|bag /w I ndbæg/ (windbags ) N‑COUNT If you call someone a windbag , you are saying in a fairly rude way that you think they talk a great deal in a boring way. [INFORMAL , DISAPPROVAL ]
wind-blown /w I nd bloʊn/ also windblown
1 ADJ You can use wind-blown to indicate that something has been blown from one place to another by the wind. □ …the wind-blown sand which forms the 60 ft dunes.
2 ADJ If something such as someone's hair is wind-blown , it is untidy because it has been blown about by the wind.
wind|break /w I ndbre I k/ (windbreaks ) N‑COUNT A windbreak is something such as a line of trees or a fence which gives protection against the wind.
Wind|breaker /w I ndbre I kə r / (Windbreakers ) N‑COUNT A Windbreaker is a warm casual jacket. [mainly AM , TRADEMARK ]
wind|fall /w I ndfɔːl/ (windfalls )
1 N‑COUNT A windfall is a sum of money that you receive unexpectedly or by luck, for example if you win a lottery.
2 N‑COUNT A windfall is a fruit, especially an apple, that has fallen from a tree.
wind farm /w I nd fɑː r m/ (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 I nd I nstrʊmənts/ (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|lass /w I ndləs/ (windlasses ) N‑COUNT A windlass is a mechanical device for lifting heavy objects, which uses a motor to pull a rope or chain around a cylinder.
wind|less /w I ndləs/ ADJ If the air is windless , or if it is a windless day, it is very calm and still.
wind|mill /w I ndm I l/ (windmills ) N‑COUNT A windmill is a building with long pieces of wood on the outside which turn around as the wind blows and provide energy for a machine that crushes grain. A windmill is also a similar structure that is used to convert the power of the wind into electricity.
win|dow ◆◆◇ /w I ndoʊ/ (windows )
1 N‑COUNT A window is a space in the wall of a building or in the side of a vehicle, which has glass in it so that light can come in and you can see out. □ He stood at the window, moodily staring out. □ The room felt very hot and she wondered why someone did not open a window. □ …my car window.
2 N‑COUNT A window is a large piece of glass along the front of a shop, behind which some of the goods that the shop sells are displayed. □ I stood for a few moments in front of the nearest shop window.
3 N‑COUNT A window is a glass-covered opening above a counter, for example in a bank, post office, railway station, or museum, which the person serving you sits behind. □ The woman at the ticket window told me that the admission fee was $17.50.
4 N‑COUNT On a computer screen, a window is one of the work areas that the screen can be divided into. [COMPUTING ]
5 N‑COUNT [usu sing] If you have a window in your diary for something, or if you can make a window for it, you are free at a particular time and can do it then. □ [+ in ] Tell her I've got a window in my diary later on this week.