windlass
/ˈwɪnd.ləs/
windlass noun: any of various forms of winch, in which a rope or cable is wound around a cylinder, used for lifting heavy weights.
Noun
windlass (plural windlasses)
- Any of various forms of winch, in which a rope or cable is wound around a cylinder, used for lifting heavy weights
- A winding and circuitous way; a roundabout course.
- With windlasses and with assays of bias, / By indirections find directions out.c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac...
- An apparatus resembling a winch or windlass, for bending the bow of an arblast, or crossbow.
Verb
windlass (third-person singular simple present windlasses, present participle windlassing, simple past and past participle windlassed)
- To raise with, or as if with, a windlass; to use a windlass.
- A favoring breeze enabled us to sail all the way down the lake, and (having been windlassed across the haul-over) even down the canals.1882, Constance Gordon-Cumming, “Ningpo and the Buddhist Temples”, in The Century Magazine
- To take a roundabout course; to work warily or by indirect means.
- He could not expect to allure him forward, and therefore drives him as far back as he can; that so he may be the more sure of him at the rebound; as a skilful woodsman, that by windlassing presently gets a shoot, which, without taking a compass and thereby a commodious stand, he could never have...a. 1660, Henry Hammond, a sermon
windlass meaning in Tamil, Malayalam and Tagalog
windlass in Tamil
- சுழல்அசைவு
windlass in Malayalam
- ഉത്തോലനയന്ത്രം, നങ്കൂരചക്രം
windlass in Tagalog
- winch
- biling-bilingan
Forms of windlass
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | windlasses |
| alternative form (obsolete) | windless |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | windlasses |
| present participle | windlassing |
| past participle | windlassed |
| past | windlassed |
Origin of windlass
From Middle English wyndlas, wyndelas, wyndlasse, wyndelasse, probably an alteration (due to Middle English windel) of Middle English windas, wyndas, wyndace, from Anglo-Norman windase, windeis and Old Northern French windas (compare Old French guindas, Medieval Latin windasius, windasa), from Old Norse vindáss (“windlass”, literally “winding-pole”), from vinda (“to wind”) + áss (“pole”). Compare Icelandic vindilass.
Words formed from windlass
Questions about windlass
- What does windlass mean?
- Windlass means any of various forms of winch, in which a rope or cable is wound around a cylinder, used for lifting heavy weights.
- What is windlass in Tamil?
- Windlass in Tamil is சுழல்அசைவு. See Windlass meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is windlass?
- Windlass can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce windlass?
- Windlass is pronounced /ˈwɪnd.ləs/ (UK).
- What is the plural of windlass?
- The plural of windlass is windlasses.
Words near windlass in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: windlass (page history and authors); windlass (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); windlass (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors). 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.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-windlass.wav.
Cite this entry: “windlass.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/windlass. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.