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wound1

[woond; Older Use and Literary wound]
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noun
  1. an injury, usually involving division of tissue or rupture of the integument or mucous membrane, due to external violence or some mechanical agency rather than disease.
  2. a similar injury to the tissue of a plant.
  3. an injury or hurt to feelings, sensibilities, reputation, etc.
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verb (used with object)
  1. to inflict a wound upon; injure; hurt.
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verb (used without object)
  1. to inflict a wound.
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Idioms
  1. lick one's wounds, to attempt to heal one's injuries or soothe one's hurt feelings after a defeat.
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Origin of wound1

before 900; (noun) Middle English; Old English wund; cognate with Old High German wunta (German Wunde), Old Norse und, Gothic wunds; (v.) Middle English wounden, Old English wundian, derivative of the noun
Related formswound·ed·ly, adverbwound·ing·ly, adverb

Synonyms

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1. cut, stab, laceration, lesion, trauma. See injury. 3. insult, pain, anguish. 4. harm, damage; cut, stab, lacerate.

wound2

[wound]
verb
  1. a simple past tense and past participle of wind2 and wind3.
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wind1

[noun wind, Literary wahynd; verb wind]
noun
  1. air in natural motion, as that moving horizontally at any velocity along the earth's surface: A gentle wind blew through the valley. High winds were forecast.
  2. a gale; storm; hurricane.
  3. any stream of air, as that produced by a bellows or fan.
  4. air that is blown or forced to produce a musical sound in singing or playing an instrument.
  5. wind instrument.
  6. wind instruments collectively.
  7. the winds, the members of an orchestra or band who play the wind instruments.
  8. breath or breathing: to catch one's wind.
  9. the power of breathing freely, as during continued exertion.
  10. any influential force or trend: strong winds of public opinion.
  11. a hint or intimation: to catch wind of a stock split.
  12. air carrying an animal's odor or scent.
  13. solar wind.
  14. empty talk; mere words.
  15. vanity; conceitedness.
  16. gas generated in the stomach and intestines.
  17. Boxing Slang. the pit of the stomach where a blow may cause a temporary shortness of breath; solar plexus.
  18. any direction of the compass.
  19. a state of unconcern, recklessness, or abandon: to throw all caution to the winds.
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verb (used with object)
  1. to expose to wind or air.
  2. to follow by the scent.
  3. to make short of wind or breath, as by vigorous exercise.
  4. to let recover breath, as by resting after exertion.
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verb (used without object)
  1. to catch the scent or odor of game.
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Idioms
  1. between wind and water,
    1. (of a ship) at or near the water line.
    2. in a vulnerable or precarious spot: In her profession one is always between wind and water.
  2. break wind, to expel gas from the stomach and bowels through the anus.
  3. how the wind blows/lies, what the tendency or probability is: Try to find out how the wind blows.Also which way the wind blows.
  4. in the teeth of the wind, sailing directly into the wind; against the wind.Also in the eye of the wind, in the wind's eye.
  5. in the wind, about to occur; imminent; impending: There's good news in the wind.
  6. off the wind,
    1. away from the wind; with the wind at one's back.
    2. (of a sailing vessel) headed into the wind with sails shaking or aback.
  7. on the wind, as close as possible to the wind.Also on a wind.
  8. sail close to the wind,
    1. Also sail close on a wind.to sail as nearly as possible in the direction from which the wind is blowing.
    2. to practice economy in the management of one's affairs.
    3. to verge on a breach of propriety or decency.
    4. to escape (punishment, detection, etc.) by a narrow margin; take a risk.
  9. take the wind out of one's sails, to surprise someone, especially with unpleasant news; stun; shock; flabbergast: She took the wind out of his sails when she announced she was marrying someone else.
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Origin of wind1

before 900; Middle English (noun), Old English; cognate with Dutch, German Wind, Old Norse vindr, Gothic winds, Latin ventus

Synonyms

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1. Wind, air, zephyr, breeze, blast, gust refer to a quantity of air set in motion naturally. Wind applies to any such air in motion, blowing with whatever degree of gentleness or violence. Air, usually poetical, applies to a very gentle motion of the air. Zephyr, also poetical, refers to an air characterized by its soft, mild quality. A breeze is usually a cool, light wind. Blast and gust apply to quick, forceful winds of short duration; blast implies a violent rush of air, often a cold one, whereas a gust is little more than a flurry. 16. flatulence.

wind2

[wahynd]
verb (used without object), wound or (Rare) wind·ed [wahyn-did] /ˌwaɪn dɪd/; wind·ing.
  1. to change direction; bend; turn; take a frequently bending course; meander: The river winds through the forest.
  2. to have a circular or spiral course or direction.
  3. to coil or twine about something: The ivy winds around the house.
  4. to proceed circuitously or indirectly.
  5. to undergo winding or winding up.
  6. to be twisted or warped, as a board.
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verb (used with object), wound or (Rare) wind·ed [wahyn-did] /ˌwaɪn dɪd/; wind·ing.
  1. to encircle or wreathe, as with something twined, wrapped, or placed about.
  2. to roll or coil (thread, string, etc.) into a ball, on a spool, or the like (often followed by up).
  3. to remove or take off by unwinding (usually followed by off or from): She wound the thread off the bobbin.
  4. to twine, fold, wrap, or place about something.
  5. to make (a mechanism) operational by tightening the mainspring with a key (often followed by up): to wind a clock; to wind up a toy.
  6. to haul or hoist by means of a winch, windlass, or the like (often followed by up).
  7. to make (one's or its way) in a bending or curving course: The stream winds its way through the woods.
  8. to make (one's or its way) by indirect, stealthy, or devious procedure: to wind one's way into another's confidence.
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noun
  1. the act of winding.
  2. a single turn, twist, or bend of something wound: If you give it another wind, you'll break the mainspring.
  3. a twist producing an uneven surface.
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Verb Phrases
  1. wind down,
    1. to lessen in intensity so as to bring or come to a gradual end: The war is winding down.
    2. to calm down; relax: He's too excited tonight to wind down and sleep.
  2. wind up,
    1. to bring to a state of great tension; excite (usually used in the past participle): He was all wound up before the game.
    2. to bring or come to an end; conclude: to wind up a sales campaign.
    3. to settle or arrange in order to conclude: to wind up one's affairs.
    4. to become ultimately: to wind up as a country schoolteacher.
    5. Baseball.(of a pitcher) to execute a windup.
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Idioms
  1. out of wind, (of boards, plasterwork, etc.) flat and true.
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Origin of wind2

before 900; Middle English winden, Old English windan; cognate with Dutch, German winden, Old Norse vinda, Gothic -windan; akin to wend, wander

wind3

[wahynd, wind]
verb (used with object), wind·ed or wound, wind·ing.
  1. to blow (a horn, a blast, etc.).
  2. to sound by blowing.
  3. to signal or direct by blasts of the horn or the like.
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Origin of wind3

1375–1425; late Middle English; special use of wind1
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

lacerationcutpainshockbruisedamagegrieftraumalesionharmhurthitinjuretraumatizegashdistresstortureinsultheartbreaktorment

Examples from the Web for wound

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • In spite of the wound he seized the musket and forcibly wrested it from our hero.

    Brave and Bold

    Horatio Alger

  • How so, I asked him, when that cannot wound without the application?

    Clarissa, Volume 1 (of 9)

    Samuel Richardson

  • All you had to do when you got it inside a man was to turn it round a bit, and the wound gaped and tore.

    Viviette

    William J. Locke

  • The bullets of Allister and Clune might have gone home— they were intended to kill, not to wound.

  • And in the painful cleaning of the wound he did not murmur once.

British Dictionary definitions for wound

wound1

noun
  1. any break in the skin or an organ or part as the result of violence or a surgical incision
  2. an injury to plant tissue
  3. any injury or slight to the feelings or reputation
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verb
  1. to inflict a wound or wounds upon (someone or something)
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Derived Formswoundable, adjectivewounder, nounwounding, adjectivewoundingly, adverbwoundless, adjective

Word Origin

Old English wund; related to Old Frisian wunde, Old High German wunta (German Wunde), Old Norse und, Gothic wunds

wound2

verb
  1. the past tense and past participle of wind 2
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wind1

noun
  1. a current of air, sometimes of considerable force, moving generally horizontally from areas of high pressure to areas of low pressureSee also Beaufort scale Related adjective: aeolian
  2. mainly poetic the direction from which a wind blows, usually a cardinal point of the compass
  3. air artificially moved, as by a fan, pump, etc
  4. any sweeping and destructive force
  5. a trend, tendency, or forcethe winds of revolution
  6. informal a hint; suggestionwe got wind that you were coming
  7. something deemed insubstantialhis talk was all wind
  8. breath, as used in respiration or talkyou're just wasting wind
  9. (often used in sports) the power to breathe normallyhis wind is weak See also second wind
  10. music
    1. a wind instrument or wind instruments considered collectively
    2. (often plural)the musicians who play wind instruments in an orchestra
    3. (modifier)of, relating to, or composed of wind instrumentsa wind ensemble
  11. an informal name for flatus
  12. the air on which the scent of an animal is carried to hounds or on which the scent of a hunter is carried to his quarry
  13. between wind and water
    1. the part of a vessel's hull below the water line that is exposed by rolling or by wave action
    2. any point particularly susceptible to attack or injury
  14. break wind to release intestinal gas through the anus
  15. get the wind up or have the wind up informal to become frightened
  16. have in the wind to be in the act of following (quarry) by scent
  17. how the wind blows, how the wind lies, which way the wind blows or which way the wind lies what appears probable
  18. in the wind about to happen
  19. three sheets in the wind informal intoxicated; drunk
  20. in the teeth of the wind or in the eye of the wind directly into the wind
  21. into the wind against the wind or upwind
  22. off the wind nautical away from the direction from which the wind is blowing
  23. on the wind nautical as near as possible to the direction from which the wind is blowing
  24. put the wind up informal to frighten or alarm
  25. raise the wind British informal to obtain the necessary funds
  26. sail close to the wind or sail near to the wind
    1. to come near the limits of danger or indecency
    2. to live frugally or manage one's affairs economically
  27. take the wind out of someone's sails to destroy someone's advantage; disconcert or deflate
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verb (tr)
  1. to cause (someone) to be short of breaththe blow winded him
    1. to detect the scent of
    2. to pursue (quarry) by following its scent
  3. to cause (a baby) to bring up wind after feeding by patting or rubbing on the back
  4. to expose to air, as in drying, ventilating, etc
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Derived Formswindless, adjectivewindlessly, adverbwindlessness, noun

Word Origin

Old English wind; related to Old High German wint, Old Norse vindr, Gothic winds, Latin ventus

wind2

verb winds, winding or wound
  1. (often foll by around, about, or upon) to turn or coil (string, cotton, etc) around some object or point or (of string, etc) to be turned etc, around some object or pointhe wound a scarf around his head
  2. (tr) to twine, cover, or wreathe by or as if by coiling, wrapping, etc; encirclewe wound the body in a shroud
  3. (tr often foll by up) to tighten the spring of (a clockwork mechanism)
  4. (tr foll by off) to remove by uncoiling or unwinding
  5. (usually intr) to move or cause to move in a sinuous, spiral, or circular coursethe river winds through the hills
  6. (tr) to introduce indirectly or deviouslyhe is winding his own opinions into the report
  7. (tr) to cause to twist or revolvehe wound the handle
  8. (tr; usually foll by up or down) to move by crankingplease wind up the window
  9. (tr) to haul, lift, or hoist (a weight, etc) by means of a wind or windlass
  10. (intr) (of a board, etc) to be warped or twisted
  11. (intr) archaic to proceed deviously or indirectly
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noun
  1. the act of winding or state of being wound
  2. a single turn, bend, etca wind in the river
  3. Also called: winding a twist in a board or plank
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See also wind down, wind up
Derived Formswindable, adjective

Word Origin

Old English windan; related to Old Norse vinda, Old High German wintan (German winden)

wind3

verb winds, winding, winded or wound
  1. (tr) poetic to blow (a note or signal) on (a horn, bugle, etc)
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Word Origin

C16: special use of wind 1
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for wound

n.

Old English wund "hurt, injury," from Proto-Germanic *wundaz (cf. Old Saxon wunda, Old Norse und, Old Frisian wunde, Old High German wunta, German wunde "wound"), perhaps from PIE root *wen- "to beat, wound."

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v.

Old English wundian, from the source of wound (n.). Cognate with Old Frisian wundia, Middle Dutch and Dutch wonden, Old High German wunton, German verwunden, Gothic gawundon. Figurative use from c.1200. Related: Wounded; wounding.

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wind

n.1

"air in motion," Old English wind, from Proto-Germanic *wendas (cf. Old Saxon, Old Frisian, Middle Dutch, Dutch wind, Old Norse vindr, Old High German wind, German Wind, Gothic winds), from PIE *we-nt-o- "blowing," from root *we- "to blow" (cf. Sanskrit va-, Greek aemi-, Gothic waian, Old English wawan, Old High German wajan, German wehen, Old Church Slavonic vejati "to blow;" Sanskrit vatah, Avestan vata-, Hittite huwantis, Latin ventus, Old Church Slavonic vetru, Lithuanian vejas "wind;" Lithuanian vetra "tempest, storm;" Old Irish feth "air;" Welsh gwynt, Breton gwent "wind").

Normal pronunciation evolution made this word rhyme with kind and rind (Donne rhymes it with mind), but it shifted to a short vowel 18c., probably from influence of windy, where the short vowel is natural. A sad loss for poets, who now must rhyme it only with sinned and a handful of weak words. Symbolic of emptiness and vanity since late 13c.

I have forgot much, Cynara! gone with the wind. [Ernest Dowson, 1896]

Meaning "breath" is attested from late Old English; especially "breath in speaking" (early 14c.), so long-winded, also "easy or regular breathing" (early 14c.), hence second wind in the figurative sense (by 1830), an image from the sport of hunting.

Figurative phrase which way the wind blows for "the current state of affairs" is suggested from c.1400. To get wind of "receive information about" is by 1809, perhaps inspired by French avoir le vent de. To take the wind out of (one's) sails in the figurative sense (by 1883) is an image from sailing, where a ship without wind can make no progress. Wind-chill index is recorded from 1939. Wind energy from 1976. Wind vane from 1725.

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wind

v.1

"move by turning and twisting," Old English windan "to turn, twist, wind" (class III strong verb; past tense wand, past participle wunden), from Proto-Germanic *wendanan (cf. Old Saxon windan, Old Norse vinda, Old Frisian winda, Dutch winden, Old High German wintan, German winden, Gothic windan "to wind"), from PIE *wendh- "to turn, wind, weave" (cf. Latin viere "twist, plait, weave," vincire "bind;" Lithuanian vyti "twist, wind").

Related to wend, which is its causative form, and to wander. Wind down "come to a conclusion" is recorded from 1952; wind up "come to a conclusion" is from 1825. Winding sheet "shroud of a corpse" is attested from early 15c.

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wind

v.2

"to perceive by scent, get wind of," early 15c., from wind (n.1). Of horns, etc., "make sound by blowing through," from 1580s. Meaning "tire, put out of breath; render temporarily breathless by a blow or punch" is from 1811, originally in pugilism. Related: Winded; winding.

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wind

n.2

"an act of winding round," 1825, from wind (v.1) . Earlier, "an apparatus for winding," late 14c., in which use perhaps from a North Sea Germanic word, e.g. Middle Dutch, Middle Low German winde "windlass."

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
wound in Medicine

wound

(wōōnd)
n.
  1. Injury to a part or tissue of the body, especially one caused by physical trauma and characterized by tearing, cutting, piercing, or breaking of the tissue.
  2. An incision.
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Related formswound v.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
wound in Science

wind

[wĭnd]
  1. A current of air, especially a natural one that moves along or parallel to the ground, moving from an area of high pressure to an area of low pressure. Surface wind is measured by anemometers or its effect on objects, such as trees. The large-scale pattern of winds on Earth is governed primarily by differences in the net solar radiation received at the Earth's surface, but it is also influenced by the Earth's rotation, by the distribution of continents and oceans, by ocean currents, and by topography. On a local scale, the differences in rate of heating and cooling of land versus bodies of water greatly affect wind formation. Prevailing global winds are classified into three major belts in the Northern Hemisphere and three corresponding belts in the Southern Hemisphere. The trade winds blow generally east to west toward a low-pressure zone at the equator throughout the region from 30° north to 30° south of the equator. The westerlies blow from west to east in the temperate mid-latitude regions (from 30° to 60° north and south of the equator), and the polar easterlies blow from east to west out of high-pressure areas in the polar regions. See also Beaufort scale chinook foehn monsoon Santa Ana.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Idioms and Phrases with wound

wound

see lick one's wounds; rub in (salt into a wound).

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wind

In addition to the idioms beginning with wind

  • wind down
  • wind up

also see:

  • before the wind
  • break wind
  • get wind of
  • gone with the wind
  • ill wind
  • in the wind
  • like greased lightning (the wind)
  • sail close to the wind
  • second wind
  • something in the wind
  • straw in the wind
  • take the wind out of one's sails
  • three sheets to the wind
  • throw caution to the winds
  • twist in the wind
  • way the wind blows
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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.