wind vane
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of wind vane
First recorded in 1715–25
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.
For decades, this state was a reliable wind vane of American politics.
From New York Times ● Apr. 27, 2021
Saint-Gaudens added a flowing cloak of copper sheets, so she could act as a wind vane as well, and up she went on the Garden tower, to twirl on a swivel before the prevailing breeze.
From Time Magazine Archive
The sea's fury wrecked the automatic steering device that Chichester had rigged up by linking a wind vane to the rudder with a series of pulleys.
From Time Magazine Archive
Like a wind vane waiting for a gust to come along and spin it round.
From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor
An Electrically Operated Dial.—Thanks to the electric current, it is possible to cause a wind vane, wherever it may be set, to work a dial situated anywhere indoors.
From Things To Make by Archibald Williams
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.
