windmill
Americannoun
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any of various machines for grinding, pumping, etc., driven by the force of the wind acting upon a number of vanes or sails.
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(loosely) a wind generator; wind plant.
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Aeronautics. a small air turbine with blades, like those of an airplane propeller, exposed on a moving aircraft and driven by the air, used to operate gasoline pumps, radio apparatus, etc.
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an imaginary opponent, wrong, etc. (in allusion to Cervantes'Don Quixote ).
to tilt at windmills.
verb (used with or without object)
noun
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a machine for grinding or pumping driven by a set of adjustable vanes or sails that are caused to turn by the force of the wind
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the set of vanes or sails that drives such a mill
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Also called: whirligig. US and Canadian name: pinwheel. a toy consisting of plastic or paper vanes attached to a stick in such a manner that they revolve like the sails of a windmill
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an imaginary opponent or evil (esp in the phrase tilt at or fight windmills )
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a small air-driven propeller fitted to a light aircraft to drive auxiliary equipment Compare ram-air turbine
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an informal name for helicopter
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an informal name for propeller
verb
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to move or cause to move like the arms of a windmill
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an informal name for accommodation bill
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(intr) (of an aircraft propeller, rotor of a turbine, etc) to rotate as a result of the force of a current of air rather than under power
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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windmillsimple
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windmillssimple
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have windmilledperfect
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has windmilledperfect
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am windmillingprogressive
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are windmillingprogressive
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is windmillingprogressive
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have been windmillingperfect progressive
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has been windmillingperfect progressive
Past
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windmilledsimple
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had windmilledperfect
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was windmillingprogressive
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were windmillingprogressive
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had been windmillingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of windmill
Middle English word dating back to 1250–1300; see origin at wind 1, mill 1
Explanation
A structure that uses the power of flowing air to produce electricity or pump water is called a windmill. The Netherlands is especially famous for its windmills, some of which are hundreds of years old. The very oldest European windmills were called "post mills," upright posts topped with a turning blade or "sail" that rotated to face the wind. Today, the most recognizable windmills are "tower mills," stone or brick structures with wooden roofs that can spin as the wind direction changes, moving the rotating sail as needed. As the blades move, the machinery of the mill itself is powered to grind corn, pump water, or generate power for other uses.
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:
Think of it as the aircraft's emergency windmill: if both engines fail, or the plane loses normal electrical or hydraulic power, a small turbine drops into the airstream and generates backup power.
From BBC ● Jun. 15, 2026
“By the way, in case you people don’t know, I’m not much of a windmill person,” Trump said.
From Barron's ● Jan. 13, 2026
In laying out the workings of a traditional Dutch windmill, for instance, he conjures a fictional miller, “a congenial fellow” who “knocks out his pipe on the door frame” before getting to work.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 28, 2025
They have the largest wooden windmill in America.
From Slate ● Oct. 22, 2025
“Wingardium Leviosa!” he shouted, waving his long arms like a windmill.
From "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" by J.K. Rowling
Many technologies can generate low-frequency noise, including ventilation systems, heat pumps, road traffic and windmills.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 19, 2026
Alison Fure, 68, is petitioning Kingston Council to begin phasing out plastic decorative items, including ornaments, flowers, and windmills, on graves.
From BBC ● Jun. 7, 2026
He went after windmills because “they kill the birds, they ruin your landscapes.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 21, 2026
“Big ugly windmills, they ruin your neighborhood,” he said in January 2025.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 15, 2026
Until waterwheels and windmills began to replace Eurasia’s mammals in medieval times, they were also the major source of its “industrial” power beyond human muscle power—for example, for turning grindstones and operating water lifts.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
They stomped their feet, windmilled their arms, filling the dance floor with a cyclone of moving bodies.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 17, 2022
He slipped and windmilled his arms to regain his balance, which made him think about how humans balance ourselves.
From Slate ● Aug. 1, 2021
Dark-eyed, dressy little town dolls and dutch-bobbed blondies from windmilled countrysides.
From The New Yorker ● Apr. 8, 2019
What was left of the propeller windmilled as air rushed over it.
From The Verge ● Jun. 24, 2018
I windmilled my arm like I was Pete Townshend slashing a guitar.
From "Winger" by Andrew Smith
We're not going to see AJ run across the ring in the first few seconds and start windmilling.
From BBC ● Dec. 17, 2025
Bae caught teammate Jason Delay chugging toward home and third base coach Mike Rabello’s right arm windmilling.
From Washington Times ● Sep. 7, 2023
“Southern Recollections: Romare Bearden” starts excitingly big, the dancers sliding across the stage, arms windmilling, to a Wynton Marsalis jazz-orchestra evocation of a train.
From New York Times ● Jan. 12, 2023
A few relievers stretched in the bullpen, swinging their legs, windmilling their arms in the humid air.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 13, 2021
I see now what I saw then, flashing by with the swift, deceptive ease of an accident: shower of gravel, windmilling arms, a hand that claws at a branch and misses.
From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt
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.
