winder

[wahyn-der]

noun

a person or thing that winds.
a staircase step for changing direction.Compare flier(def 9).
a plant that coils or twines itself about something.

an instrument or a machine for winding thread or the like.

Origin of winder

First recorded in 1545–55; wind² + -er¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for winder

Historical Examples of winder

Now set right down here, where you can see out o' the winder.
Meadow Grass
Alice Brown
You jest pull in my sheets, an' shet the winder, while I do it.
Meadow Grass
Alice Brown
Except the milk, and he gave me my ha'porth through the winder.
The Channings
Mrs. Henry Wood
There's house with a winder, but I am afraid of their being proud.
Life And Adventures Of Martin Chuzzlewit
Charles Dickens
I shut every winder tight and I make Kenelm do the same thing.
Thankful's Inheritance
Joseph C. Lincoln

British Dictionary definitions for winder

winder

noun

a person or device that winds, as an engine for hoisting the cages in a mine shaft or a device for winding the yarn in textile manufacture
an object, such as a bobbin, around which something is wound
a knob or key used to wind up a clock, watch, or similar mechanism
any plant that twists itself around a support
a step of a spiral staircase

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012