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Synonyms

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.

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

"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

adjective

  1. curving; sinuous

    a winding road
"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

Other Word Forms

  • windingly adverb
  • windingness noun

Etymology

Origin of winding

before 1050; Middle English (noun), Old English windung (noun); wind 2, -ing 1, -ing 2

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.

Then on Friday, it was announced that FanDuel, which is both a betting platform and a sports network specializing in horse racing, is winding down its specialized studio and on-site talent programming this year.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 31, 2026

At hubs like Houston, Atlanta and New York, wait times have ballooned to hours, with viral videos showing passengers winding through snaking lines that stretch far beyond normal TSA checkpoints.

From Salon • Mar. 28, 2026

OpenAI also appears to be winding down ChatGPT’s video functionality and taking all its animation APIs offline.

From Slate • Mar. 25, 2026

Meanwhile, OpenAI announced on Tuesday afternoon that it is winding down the app for its AI video generator, Sora — an example of a compute-intensive product that requires a lot of memory and storage.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 25, 2026

He flew down the winding staircase, knocking into walls, cloak billowing behind him, until he burst through the front door.

From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman

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.