winch

¹ American  

[winch] / wɪntʃ /

noun

• winches
  plural

1. the crank or handle of a revolving machine.

2. a windlass turned by a crank, for hoisting or hauling.

3. any of various devices for cranking.

4. Textiles. Also

   1. any machine equipped with rollers that guide cloth through a dye or finishing solution in an open vat.

   2. a roller between two dyeing vats for passing cloth from one vat to another.

---

verb (used with object)

1. to hoist or haul (a load) by means of a winch.

winch ² American  

[winch] / wɪntʃ /

verb (used without object)

Archaic.

1. an archaic variant of wince.

---

winch ¹ British  

/ wɪntʃ /

noun

1. a windlass driven by a hand- or power-operated crank

2. a hand- or power-operated crank by which a machine is driven

---

verb

1. (tr; often foll by up or in) to pull (in a rope) or lift (a weight) using a winch

winch ² British  

/ wɪntʃ /

verb

1. (intr) an obsolete word for wince 1

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• wincher
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• winches
  plural

Etymology

Origin of winch

before 1050; Middle English winche, Old English wince pulley; akin to wench, wince ¹, wink ¹

Explanation

A winch is a kind of tool for tightening or loosening the tension of a rope or cable. If you take up sailing, you might use a winch to adjust the position of the sails. Ahoy, matey! You use a winch for things like pulling out cars stuck in the mud or snow. Tow trucks have winches, and so do sailboats, for tightening (or "trimming") a sail line. As a verb, winch means to use one: "I told you not to drive through that mud. Now we'll have to winch you out of there." The root of winch means "to bend," possibly in reference to the shape of a winch's handle.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

winch winches

Firefighters then worked to winch the plane from the sea and Hampshire police were keeping the aircraft secure until it can be recovered, said the fire service.

From BBC ● Feb. 28, 2026

Behind her were two 20-tonne narrowboats waiting to be rescued by an imposing winch machine in a nearby field with the help of a specialist excavator.

From Barron's ● Feb. 11, 2026

The robot features four thermal and visible-light cameras, a front blade for pushing vehicles, and a winch for clearing paths.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2025

Using a powerful winch, the M88 recovery vehicle can pull something that weighs up to 140,000 pounds out of trouble or lift a vehicle weighing up to 35,000 pounds using its crane-like boom.

From Salon ● Apr. 1, 2025

Soon the other two-legs came and got ready to winch the cage up to the surface.

From "Tiger, Tiger" by Lynne Reid Banks

Traditionally everything above the waterline on the 75ft-long boats - the sails, mast and winches - was powered by grinders, sailors who used their arms to turn cranks.

From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2024

With nowhere to land, some helicopters have used winches to pull up residents from flooded areas.

From New York Times ● May 2, 2024

Workers at Lake Mead National Recreation Area have been extending boat ramps and moving floating marinas with cables and winches.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 29, 2023

Parachutes and winches are a couple of the common methods, as is dropping from low altitudes.

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 15, 2022

Dazed with grief, Leo and the others carefully loaded the Athena Parthenos into the hold, using the ship’s hydraulic winches with an assist from Frank Zhang, part-time elephant.

From "The Mark of Athena" by Rick Riordan