DictionaryAI

wind

WIND/wɪnd/

Pluralwinds

Verbwinds, winding, wound

29 meanings of wind

Practice

  1. 1
    moving airnouncountable or uncountable
    Air in motion, whether naturally in the atmosphere or produced by a fan, bellows, or another device.

    Strong wind battered the coast throughout the night.

    Sailors rely on steady wind to push their boats forward.

    UsageStrong or high winds; the wind blows, picks up and drops.

    Note

    It is unrelated to the verb of coiling and turning, which comes from Old English windan and is a relative of wend. The two words share only their spelling. In energy talk, wind is short for wind power, as in investing in solar and wind.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • The verb meaning to coil or turn descends from Old English windan. en.wiktionary.org
    • The coiling verb wind is etymologically related to wend. en.wiktionary.org
    • The air noun and the coiling verb have separate etymologies; their identical spelling does not indicate a shared root. en.wiktionary.org
  2. 2
    WYND/waɪnd/
    curve (path)verbintransitive
    To travel or follow a path that has numerous curves and bends.

    The trail winds slowly up the steep hillside.

    Narrow streets wind between the old stone houses.

    UsageOften wind its way: the road winds its way up the hill. The past is wound.

    Similarmeander, snake, twist, curve, zigzag

    Note

    Movement that follows curves rather than straight lines. Thomas Gray's Elegy has "the lowing herd wind slowly o'er the lea." Walter Scott's Anne of Geierstein (1829) has a path that "winded through thickets," showing the regular past serving this verb too. Winding its way, as in the American novelist Winston Churchill's The Celebrity, is the stock phrase.

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 6 facts

    • Thomas Gray's Elegy contains the quoted line. thomasgray.org
    • Walter Scott wrote Anne of Geierstein, first published in 1829. en.wikipedia.org
    • The text reads “winded through thickets,” without “the”; this is narration describing the path. gutenberg.org
    • Scott's passage uses the regular past tense “winded” for the curving-path verb. gutenberg.org
    • The Celebrity is by the American Winston Churchill. gutenberg.org
    • “Winding its way” occurs in The Celebrity. gutenberg.org
  3. 3
    WYND/waɪnd/
    wrap aroundverbtransitive
    To wrap or coil something such as a cord, tape or thread around an object, or to twist around and encircle it.

    Wind the cord around your hand to keep it from tangling.

    He wound the bandage carefully around her injured wrist.

    UsageWind the thing around the support; the usual past form is wound.

    Similarwrap, coil, twist, loop

    Oppositeunwind, uncoil, unwrap

    Note

    Examples include thread wound on a spool and Milton's woodbine wound round an arbor. Stanley J. Weyman's Chippinge Borough (1906) has a muslin cravat wound about a wide collar.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • Milton's work contains an example of winding woodbine round an arbor; the passage is spoken by Eve in Paradise Lost, Book IX. gutenberg.org
    • Stanley J. Weyman wrote Chippinge Borough, first published in book form in 1906. gutenberg.org
    • Chippinge Borough describes a muslin cravat wound about a collar. gutenberg.org
  4. 4
    orchestra sectionnouncountable or uncountable
    Instruments sounded by blowing air through them, especially woodwinds, or the players of them in an orchestra or band.

    The composer scored a delicate passage for the wind alone.

    After the strings faded, the wind took up the main theme.

    UsageUsed with the, like the strings; woodwind names the narrower section.

    Note

    An orchestral term for the woodwind players taken as one body: flutes, oboes, clarinets and bassoons. Its boundary is loose, since the brass is sometimes folded in and sometimes not.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

    • The orchestral woodwind section typically includes flutes, oboes, clarinets and bassoons. en.wikipedia.org
  5. 5
    hearsaynounfigurativelycountable or uncountable
    News of an event, learned especially through hearsay or gossip.

    The press got wind of the scandal before the official announcement.

    Somehow she got wind of his secret travel plans.

    UsageIn get wind of or catch wind of something.

    Similarword

    Note

    Gossip pictured as something carried on the air. The sense lives in two fixed phrases, catch wind of and get wind of, each followed by what was learned: a manager catches wind of a planned walkout, and police, in a 1953 Jet report, got wind of a lottery. Both suggest learning something that was meant to stay quiet.

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

  6. 6
    trendnounfigurativelycountable or uncountable
    A tendency or trend in the way events or opinions are developing.

    The wind of public opinion was clearly moving toward reform.

    Investors sensed a new wind blowing through the tech industry.

    UsageCommon in the wind of change and the winds of change.

    Similartide, trend, current, drift

    Note

    Opinion pictured as weather: a trend has a direction and can be read like a weathervane. The plural suits several shifting forces at once, as when Jason Horowitz wrote in 2023 that Spain's election results went contrary to Europe's political winds.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

    • Jason Horowitz wrote in 2023 that Spain’s election results went contrary to Europe’s political winds; Wiktionary dates the article July 24, 2023. en.wiktionary.org

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of wind apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origins

Meanings 1, 4–6, 8–10, 12–13, 15–17

From Middle English wind and Old English wind, going back through Proto-Germanic *windaz to a Proto-Indo-European word formed from a root meaning "to blow." It is related to Dutch wind, German Wind, Latin ventus, Welsh gwynt, and Sanskrit vāta, all meaning "wind."

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

  • Wind descends through Middle English and Old English from Proto-Germanic *windaz. en.wiktionary.org
  • The Proto-Indo-European ancestor derives from a root meaning “to blow.” en.wiktionary.org
  • Dutch wind and German Wind are cognates meaning “wind.” en.wiktionary.org
  • Latin ventus, Welsh gwynt, and Sanskrit vāta are cognates meaning “wind.” en.wiktionary.org
Meanings 2–3, 7, 11, 14, 18

Old English windan became Middle English wynden, and the Old English verb comes from Proto-Germanic *windaną. Dutch and German both have the related verb winden, and English wend is also connected.

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 4 facts