winding
Americannoun
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the act of a person or thing that winds.
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a bend, turn, or flexure.
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a coiling, folding, or wrapping, as of one thing about another.
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something that is wound or coiled, or a single round of it.
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Electricity.
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a symmetrically laid, electrically conducting current path in any device.
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the manner of such coiling.
a series winding.
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adjective
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bending or turning; sinuous.
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spiral, as stairs.
noun
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a curving or sinuous course or movement
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anything that has been wound or wrapped around something
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a particular manner or style in which something has been wound
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a curve, bend, or complete turn in wound material, a road, etc
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(often plural) devious thoughts or behaviour
the tortuous windings of political argumentation
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one or more turns of wire forming a continuous coil through which an electric current can pass, as used in transformers, generators, etc
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another name for wind 2
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a coil of tubing in certain brass instruments, esp the French horn
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of winding
before 1050; Middle English (noun), Old English windung (noun); see wind 2, -ing 1, -ing 2
Explanation
Use the adjective winding to describe something with twists and turns, like a winding country road or a little winding mountain stream. A path through the woods that has plenty of bends and curves in it is winding, and a river that curls and meanders down to the sea is also winding. The Beatles song "The Long and Winding Road" describes a twisting, indirect road. Winding has an Old English root, the word windan, which means "to turn, twist, or wind."
Vocabulary lists containing winding
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Winding through the Black Hills is the George S. Mickelson Trail, a 109-mile converted railroad bed with rock tunnels and more than 100 trestle bridges.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 25, 2026
Winding back 166 million years, Nichols said the area surrounding the tracks would have been "a really lovely tropical, kind of lush environment".
From BBC • Jun. 10, 2026
The collision closed all lanes of PCH for several hours between East Winding Way and West Winding Way Monday night before eventually reopening.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 3, 2026
As the decade wore on, Aspinall rechristened the project as “The Long and Winding Road,” refining the documentary’s scope as he accrued rare audio and footage associated with the Beatles’ unparalleled story.
From Salon • Nov. 21, 2025
‘But not so difficult. Hobbits have climbed the Straight Stair. Next comes the Winding Stair.’
From "The Two Towers" by J. R. R. Tolkien
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
