winch
/wɪnt͡ʃ/
winch noun: 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.
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Noun
winch (plural winches)
- 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.
- 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.2013, J. M. Coetzee, chapter 27, in The Childhood of Jesus, Melbourne, Australia: The Text Publishing Company, page 267
- A wince (machine used in dyeing or steeping cloth).
- 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 ground1612–1620, [Miguel de Cervantes], translated by Thomas Shelton, The History of the Valorous and Wittie Knight-errant Don-Quixote of the Mancha. […], London: […] William Stansby, for Ed[ward] Blount...
- A witch.
Verb (1)
winch (third-person singular simple present winches, present participle winching, simple past and past participle winched)
- To use a winch
- Winch in those sails, lad!
Verb (2)
winch (third-person singular simple present winches, present participle winching, simple past and past participle winched)
Verb (3)
winch (third-person singular simple present winches, present participle winching, simple past and past participle winched)
- to court
- They “clicked” each other, kidded each other, and by and by they would “winch” and marry each other.1935, Lennox Kerr, Woman of Glenshiels
- It was common knowledge that he'd winched dozens of girls while she had been sharing a bedroom with her two brothers.2020, Douglas Stuart, Shuggie Bain, page 59
- to kiss, snog
- 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.1998, Alan Spence, Way to go, page 61
- Up at the cinema Campbell Cameron had been all slithering hands, like a dirty octopus. Even his tenderest winching had felt entitled and demanding.2020, Douglas Stuart, Shuggie Bain, page 58
Proper noun capitalized: Winch
Winch (countable and uncountable, plural Winches)
- A surname from Old English.
winch meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
winch in Hindi
- विंच
winch in Tamil
- உருளை ஏற்றப் பொறி, உருளைஏற்றப் பொறி, திருகி, திருகு, உயர்த்துபொறி, வலி
winch in Urdu
- چرخی
winch in Bengali
- উইঞ্চ, উইনচ
More languagesFewer languages
- winch in Telugu
- వించ్
- winch in Malayalam
- ചുഴറ്റി, യന്ത്രപ്പിടി
- winch in Kannada
- ಎತ್ತುಗ
- winch in Punjabi
- ਵਿੰਚ
- winch in Gujarati
- વિંચ, વિન્ચ
- winch in Odia
- ୱିଞ୍ଚ୍, ୱିଞ୍ଚ, ୱିନ୍ଚ୍
- winch in Nepali
- विन्च
- winch in Tagalog
- biling-bilingan
- winch in Arabic
- مِلْفَاف milfāf
Examples of winch in a sentence
- “Run the spin halyard to the cabin-top winch and pass me the free end!”
- A simple but powerful grav unit with a winch and a hook.
- The Margaret Ann's engineer will take his station at his own winch to haul up his brailer.
Forms of winch
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | winches |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | winches |
| present participle | winching |
| past participle | winched |
| past | winched |
| Proper noun | |
| plural | Winches |
Origin of winch
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.
Words formed from winch
- rope winch
- winch handle
Words that rhyme with winch
Questions about winch
- What does winch mean?
- Winch means 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.
- What is winch in Hindi?
- Winch in Hindi is विंच. See Winch meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is winch?
- Winch can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce winch?
- Winch is pronounced /wɪnt͡ʃ/.
- What is the plural of winch?
- The plural of winch is winches.
Words near winch in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: winch (page history and authors); Winch (page history and authors); winch (Hindi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); winch (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); winch (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); winch (Bengali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); winch (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); winch (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); winch (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); winch (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); winch (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); winch (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); winch (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-winch.ogg.
Cite this entry: “winch.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/winch. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.