windlass
Americannoun
verb (used with object)
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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windlasssimple
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windlassessimple
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have windlassedperfect
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has windlassedperfect
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am windlassingprogressive
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are windlassingprogressive
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is windlassingprogressive
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have been windlassingperfect progressive
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has been windlassingperfect progressive
Past
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windlassedsimple
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had windlassedperfect
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was windlassingprogressive
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were windlassingprogressive
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had been windlassingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of windlass
1350–1400; Middle English wind ( e ) las < Old Norse vindāss, equivalent to vinda to wind 2 + āss beam
Vocabulary lists containing windlass
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:
As he cranked the windlass, Neal asked, “How do we know when to stop?”
From The New Yorker ● Apr. 1, 2019
Modern tourniquets work much the same way: you snugly encircle a bleeding limb with a band of cloth, then turn the windlass, tightening the band until it stops the flow of blood.
From The New Yorker ● Apr. 1, 2019
Up here on that bow, this is the anchor windlass.
From Slate ● Jun. 16, 2017
In one case, a broken gear on its anchor windlass was so old that a new part had to be custom built, causing a six-week delay.
From Reuters ● Oct. 8, 2012
He wound the rope until it was tight around the windlass, seized the bucket, and started down the hill, spilling soup as he went.
From "Fablehaven" by Brandon Mull
The covers come in various sizes, so all vertical windlasses can easily be accommodated.
From Time Magazine Archive
Twin anchors, with separate windlasses recessed for easy cleanup, are deployed over rollers at the bow.
From Time Magazine Archive
Horizontal windlasses have their motors above the deck; vertical windlasses have them below the deck in the anchor locker.
From Time Magazine Archive
Sturdy handsome bulwarks shield the foredeck, mooring bitts, twin capstan and anchor windlasses from the elements.
From Time Magazine Archive
They were hoisted out of the boats with derricks and windlasses built by the carpenters and put into waiting carts that carried them through the town to the site.
From "Cathedral: The Story of Its Construction" by David Macaulay
The horse had lashed me into the saddle by winding the rope, and at the same time windlassed the bear in on top of us.
From Cattle Brands A Collection of Western Camp-fire Stories by Adams, Andy
Each day thousands of dollars’ worth of gold were scraped from bedrock and windlassed to the surface, and it all belonged to Pentfield and Hutchinson, who took their rank among the richest kings of Bonanza.
From The Faith of Men by London, Jack
Figures of men crawled out of the holes, or disappeared into them, or, on raised platforms of hand-hewn timber, windlassed the thawed gravel to the surface, where it immediately froze.
From Burning Daylight by London, Jack
A benevolent person watched a workman laboriously windlassing rock from a shaft while the broiling sun was beating down on his bare head.
From Toaster's Handbook Jokes, Stories, and Quotations by Fanning, C. E. (Clara Elizabeth)
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.
