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:
He made a side-to-side move at the rim on his penultimate attempt, then sprinted the length of the court and soared for a windmill jam on his last effort.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 14, 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
Liyana struggled to remember Or’s directions exactly—up one hill, past the odd windmill, to the right, then straight.
From "Habibi" by Naomi Shihab Nye
Many technologies can generate low-frequency noise, including ventilation systems, heat pumps, road traffic and windmills.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 19, 2026
Brenen Thompson is from Spearman, Texas, at the top of the panhandle, where the gusts are constant and the only tourist attraction is a collection of old windmills.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 25, 2026
For those wanting to stay somewhere away from the norm, there are choices around the UK ranging from lighthouses and windmills to prison cells and tree houses.
From BBC ● Apr. 14, 2026
It described its thinly profitable gas turbines as “stabilizing” and seemed to want to call more attention to windmills.
From Barron's ● Dec. 12, 2025
What about windmills on the roof of every skyscraper?
From "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" by Jonathan Safran Foer
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
The blade windmilled, its every turn visible to Thomas, as if the world had turned to slow motion.
From "The Maze Runner" by James Dashner
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
Now, in Linares, Dominguín played to the crowd right away with ostentatious stunts, dropping to his knees in the sand and windmilling his cape as the first bull he faced leaped by.
From New York Times ● May 3, 2022
A few relievers stretched in the bullpen, swinging their legs, windmilling their arms in the humid air.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 13, 2021
Teetering back as if on the edge of the swimming pool: comic yodel, windmilling arms.
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.
