wind up
Britishverb
-
to bring to or reach a conclusion
he wound up the proceedings
-
(tr) to tighten the spring of (a clockwork mechanism)
-
informal (tr; usually passive) to make nervous, tense, etc; excite
he was all wound up before the big fight
-
(tr) to roll (thread, etc) into a ball
-
an informal word for liquidate
-
informal (intr) to end up (in a specified state)
you'll wind up without any teeth
-
(tr; usually passive) to involve; entangle
they were wound up in three different scandals
-
(tr) to hoist or haul up
-
slang (tr) to tease (someone)
noun
-
the act of concluding
-
the finish; end
-
slang an act or instance of teasing
she just thinks it's a big wind-up
-
Come or bring to a finish, as in The party was winding up, so we decided to leave , or Let's wind up the meeting and get back to work . [Early 1800s] Also see wind down .
-
Put in order, settle, as in She had to wind up her affairs before she could move . [Late 1700s]
-
Arrive somewhere following a course of action, end up, as in We got lost and wound up in another town altogether , or If you're careless with your bank account, you can wind up overdrawn . [ Colloquial ; early 1900s]
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.
Thousands more who have been released can wind up back in jail by speaking to the press.
But her intensity, whether seated on the lip of the stage, where she begins, or standing in the organ loft where she winds up at the end, spoke for itself.
From Los Angeles Times
You might wind up with some boring companies.
From MarketWatch
No matter who winds up buying Warner, the new combined streamer will still trail YouTube in the U.S., even in the living room.
From Barron's
Despite the ban and the world’s efforts to sideline Russia, a Russian figure skater might still wind up in a familiar place: the Olympic medal podium.
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.
