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.
This year could wind up being historic for the IPO market, at least by cash raised.
From MarketWatch • May 20, 2026
If you’re lucky, not too much of the medicine will wind up dripping down your adorable creature’s chin.
From Slate • May 17, 2026
It will be interesting to see how they fare once SpaceX begins trading and how quickly these funds wind up adding the stock to their portfolios.
From Barron's • May 11, 2026
The camera seemed delighted by the illumination of all those cellphones, but mostly ignored the overhead Jumbotron, which, when I go to big shows, tends to be the only thing I wind up watching.
From Los Angeles Times • May 7, 2026
We both wind up to throw at Malik, but at the last second, Ben-Ben sidearms his ball at Brayden.
From "A High Five for Glenn Burke" by Phil Bildner
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.
