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definitions

windup

or wind-up

[wahynd-uhp]
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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR windup ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

the conclusion of any action, activity, etc.; the end or close.
a final act or part.
Baseball. the preparatory movements of the arm before pitching a ball.Compare stretch(def 22).
Informal. a mechanical object, as a toy or wristwatch, that is driven by a spring or similar mechanism that must be wound.
an act or instance of winding up.

RELATED WORDS

farewell, completion, expiry, breakdown, divorce, dissolution, split, separation, termination, disintegration, closure, conclusion, culmination, integration, fulfillment, realization, achievement, expiration, finalization, development

Origin of windup

First recorded in 1565–75; noun use of verb phrase wind up
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for windup

Contemporary Examples of windup

Historical Examples of windup

  • It would have been something of a windup to send the boy to the penitentiary.

    Dominie Dean

    Ellis Parker Butler

  • He was disguised as a prima ballerina for the purpose, and as a windup he danced, with great skill and abandon, a can-can.

    A Little Garrison

    Fritz von der Kyrburg

  • He stopped his windup and threw to Menken, who was covering the rubber and yelling to him to throw.

  • “I find that a bit of noise always helps after we get the windup with the bayonet, sir,” he explained to Dalroy.

    The Day of Wrath

    Louis Tracy

  • Our morning meal was like a capital English breakfast, with coffee by way of a windup.