windmill

[wind-mil]

noun

1. any of various machines for grinding, pumping, etc., driven by the force of the wind acting upon a number of vanes or sails.

2. (loosely) a wind generator; wind plant.

3. 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.

4. an imaginary opponent, wrong, etc. (in allusion to Cervantes'Don Quixote ).

   to tilt at windmills.

verb (used with or without object)

1. Aeronautics.,  (of a propeller engine or turbojet engine) to rotate or cause to rotate solely under the force of a passing airstream.

windmill

/ ˈwɪndˌmɪl, ˈwɪnˌmɪl /

noun

1. 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

2. the set of vanes or sails that drives such a mill

3. 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

4. an imaginary opponent or evil (esp in the phrase tilt at or fight windmills )

5. a small air-driven propeller fitted to a light aircraft to drive auxiliary equipment Compare ram-air turbine

6. an informal name for helicopter

7. an informal name for propeller

verb

1. to move or cause to move like the arms of a windmill

2. an informal name for accommodation bill

3. (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

Word History and Origins

Origin of windmill¹

Middle English word dating back to 1250–1300; wind ¹, mill ¹

Idioms and Phrases

see tilt at windmills.

Example Sentences

But he’s more of a Don Quixote tilting at windmills because his solutions amount to the same level of self-delusion.

Read more on Salon

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.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

There will be illustrator residencies in London's oldest surviving windmill and free public gardens.

Read more on BBC

If AI turns out to be garbage, they’ll still have functional power plants and we’ll still be arguing about whether windmills cause cancer.

Read more on MarketWatch

His enthusiasm for windmills seems to come from a grand vision of coastal liberalism, not the energy needs of his state.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal