wind up

/ waɪnd /

verb

1. to bring to or reach a conclusion

   he wound up the proceedings

2. (tr) to tighten the spring of (a clockwork mechanism)

3. informal,  (tr; usually passive) to make nervous, tense, etc; excite

   he was all wound up before the big fight

4. (tr) to roll (thread, etc) into a ball

5. an informal word for liquidate

6. informal,  (intr) to end up (in a specified state)

   you'll wind up without any teeth

7. (tr; usually passive) to involve; entangle

   they were wound up in three different scandals

8. (tr) to hoist or haul up

9. slang,  (tr) to tease (someone)

noun

1. the act of concluding

2. the finish; end

3. slang,  an act or instance of teasing

   she just thinks it's a big wind-up

Idioms and Phrases

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

So even if Nvidia earnings wind up igniting another rally in tech and growth stocks, investors shouldn’t ignore the rest of the market.

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Years removed from his breakout, then flame-out, during his first tenure with the Dodgers, he could wind up in their winter plans again this offseason.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

That’s because it provides a buffer against many surprise expenses that may wind up as credit-card debt, which is often hard to pay off and snowballs due to high interest rates.

Read more on MarketWatch

What is going to wind up happening from an inflation perspective is that you actually don’t really peak from an inflation perspective until next year, probably sometime in the first half of next year.

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That means keeping food out of the 60-gallon black bins where residents have been accustomed to dumping most of their garbage, which ultimately winds up in landfills.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• close 
• complete 
• conclude 
• do 
• end up 
• finish up www.thesaurus.com
• settle 
• wrap up