winding

American  

[wahyn-ding] / ˈwaɪn dɪŋ /

noun

1. the act of a person or thing that winds.

2. a bend, turn, or flexure.

3. a coiling, folding, or wrapping, as of one thing about another.

4. something that is wound or coiled, or a single round of it.

5. Electricity.

   1. a symmetrically laid, electrically conducting current path in any device.

   2. the manner of such coiling.

      a series winding.

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adjective

1. bending or turning; sinuous.

2. spiral, as stairs.

winding British  

/ ˈwaɪndɪŋ /

noun

1. a curving or sinuous course or movement

2. anything that has been wound or wrapped around something

3. a particular manner or style in which something has been wound

4. a curve, bend, or complete turn in wound material, a road, etc

5. (often plural) devious thoughts or behaviour

   the tortuous windings of political argumentation

6. one or more turns of wire forming a continuous coil through which an electric current can pass, as used in transformers, generators, etc

7. another name for wind 2

8. a coil of tubing in certain brass instruments, esp the French horn

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adjective

1. curving; sinuous

   a winding road

Other Word Forms

• windingly adverb
• windingness noun

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."

Example Sentences

Investors are ready to move on from the Iran war as it approaches a ninth week, with U.S.-Iran talks expected over the weekend and military operations in the Persian Gulf potentially winding down.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 25, 2026

“The long and winding road is more than a song,” he sings, with a sly wink to his Beatles past.

From Salon • Apr. 24, 2026

Workers are choosing careers in the trades—and winding up with debt.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 22, 2026

"We can't show directly that that's happening, but we think it's a reasonable way that they could be winding up in the air. Sewage sludge fertilizers have been shown to release similar compounds."

From Science Daily • Apr. 11, 2026

Then, as if to seal the conclusion that the mountain was winding back down, the steam-blast eruptions—the “burps” of gas and ash—ended on April 22.

From "Mountain of Fire" by Rebecca E. F. Barone

Related Words

• bending
• curving
• meandering
• serpentine
• sinuous
• snaking
• tortuous
• turning
• twisting
• twisty
• windy
• zigzag