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

The harness carried a telephone with video instructions for attaching himself with carabiners to the winch of the drone that would transport him.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 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

On Tuesday the Pacemaker, the boat left hanging over the hole's edge following the collapse, was officially refloated after being pulled a few feet back to safety by a winch system on 24 December.

From BBC ● Jan. 14, 2026

The footage shows the Terra Nova colonised with sea life, but key features of the wooden ship are still visible including its wheel, winch and mast.

From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2025

When the water’s lapping around the high marks on the pilings, I give the winch a couple of cranks until the line goes tight.

From "The Young Man and the Sea" by Rodman Philbrick

Beneath rotating wind turbines on Sri Lanka's Mannar peninsula, a fishing net is hauled up the beach by tractor winches and 20 men, but once again the catch is meagre.

From Barron's ● Oct. 25, 2026

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

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

Surgeons donned headlamps to work in the dark, and miners were pulled from deep underground by manual winches.

From New York Times ● Nov. 25, 2022

Stevedores and riggers by the hundreds strained against winches and loaded crates of rations and ammunition into the holds of the warships snugged into their berths.

From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---