winding
Americannoun
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windings
plural
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the act of a person or thing that winds.
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a bend, turn, or flexure.
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a coiling, folding, or wrapping, as of one thing about another.
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something that is wound or coiled, or a single round of it.
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Electricity.
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a symmetrically laid, electrically conducting current path in any device.
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the manner of such coiling.
a series winding.
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adjective
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bending or turning; sinuous.
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spiral, as stairs.
noun
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a curving or sinuous course or movement
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anything that has been wound or wrapped around something
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a particular manner or style in which something has been wound
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a curve, bend, or complete turn in wound material, a road, etc
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(often plural) devious thoughts or behaviour
the tortuous windings of political argumentation
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one or more turns of wire forming a continuous coil through which an electric current can pass, as used in transformers, generators, etc
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another name for wind 2
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a coil of tubing in certain brass instruments, esp the French horn
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of winding
before 1050; Middle English (noun), Old English windung (noun); see wind 2, -ing 1, -ing 2
Explanation
Use the adjective winding to describe something with twists and turns, like a winding country road or a little winding mountain stream. A path through the woods that has plenty of bends and curves in it is winding, and a river that curls and meanders down to the sea is also winding. The Beatles song "The Long and Winding Road" describes a twisting, indirect road. Winding has an Old English root, the word windan, which means "to turn, twist, or wind."
Vocabulary lists containing winding
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.
See Examples For:
The road to new cures can be long and winding.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026
The 39-year-old Irish actor said that she had an “incredible experience” leading the “Bridgerton” series, but her storyline is naturally winding down.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026
Khosla had seen Microsoft’s announcement last year that it was winding down its free nonprofit licenses beginning July 2025, but, per the record, he should have still been in the clear.
From Slate ● Aug. 18, 2026
The idea resembles winding optical fiber around a spool, but nanofabrication makes it possible to fit the path into a far smaller footprint.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 17, 2026
We dust ourselves off and make our way down the long, winding lane.
From "The Bletchley Riddle" by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin
The company’s share price took a hit last month when the startup missed delivery expectations for the third quarter and lowered its production forecast, reportedly because of miscommunication with its supplier of copper windings.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 7, 2024
Grid transformers are filled with copper windings, other metallic components, and cellulose-based electrical insulation like kraft paper.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 16, 2024
“Its height gradually diminished, and after a chase of one or two miles I lost it in the windings of the channel.”
From New York Times ● May 8, 2020
It’s that manufacturing agility that allowed a company whose top product was a tour-played ball with rubber windings to switch to solid-core, multilayer constructions with the introduction of the Pro V1 in late 2000.
From Golf Digest ● Sep. 24, 2019
The din was on the causeway: a horse was coming; the windings of the lane yet hid it, but it approached.
From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë
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.
