windup
or wind-up
[wahynd-uhp]
- 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.
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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. 2018
Examples from the Web for windup
Contemporary Examples
After all that windup, it was finally time for Mitt Romney to make the most difficult and important sales pitch of his life.
Historical Examples
It would have been something of a windup to send the boy to the penitentiary.
Dominie DeanEllis 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 GarrisonFritz von der Kyrburg
He stopped his windup and threw to Menken, who was covering the rubber and yelling to him to throw.
Baseball Joe, Home Run KingLester Chadwick
“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 WrathLouis Tracy
Our morning meal was like a capital English breakfast, with coffee by way of a windup.
A Journey to the Centre of the EarthJules Verne