windlass

American  

[wind-luhs] / ˈwɪnd ləs /

noun

1. a device for raising or hauling objects, usually consisting of a horizontal cylinder or barrel turned by a crank, lever, motor, or the like, upon which a cable, rope, or chain winds, the outer end of the cable being attached directly or indirectly to the weight to be raised or the thing to be hauled or pulled; winch.

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verb (used with object)

1. to raise, haul, or move (a load) by means of a windlass.

windlass British  

/ ˈwɪndləs /

noun

1. a machine for raising weights by winding a rope or chain upon a barrel or drum driven by a crank, motor, etc

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verb

1. (tr) to raise or haul (a weight, etc) by means of a windlass

Etymology

Origin of windlass

1350–1400; Middle English wind ( e ) las < Old Norse vindāss, equivalent to vinda to wind ² + āss beam

Example Sentences

Here five thirty-two pounders—and, three hundred yards away to the west, in the great Windlass Battery, no fewer than eleven guns of the same calibre—had grinned defiance at the ships of France.

From Major Vigoureux by Quiller-Couch, Arthur Thomas, Sir

The Windlass, Shears, Pulley-blocks, etc., constitute the apparatus for lowering and raising the auger, pump, or picks, as needed.

From Harper's New Monthly Magazine No. XVI.?September, 1851?Vol. III. by Various

Windlass, wind′las, n. a modification of the wheel and axle, used for raising weights, consisting of a revolving cylinder.—v.i. to use a windlass.—v.t. to hoist by means of such.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements) by Various

A Spanish Windlass.—To rig a Spanish Windlass take a good strand well greased in the centre.

From Knots, Bends, Splices With tables of strengths of ropes, etc. and wire rigging by Jutsum, J. Netherclift

Pan, Cradle or Rocker, Long-tom, Sluice-washing—Drifting, Windlass and Shaft faces page 132 The varied and animated scene depicted in this plate is resketched from De Groot's Gold Mines and Mining in California.

From The Shirley Letters from California Mines in 1851-52 by Clappe, Louise Amelia Knapp Smith