winch
/wɪnt͡ʃ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.04 in modern English
13
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
1
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A machine consisting of a drum on an axle, a friction brake or ratchet and pawl, and a crank handle or prime mover (often an electric or hydraulic motor), with or without gearing, to give increased mechanical advantage when hoisting or hauling on a rope or cable.
noun
A kick, as of an animal, from impatience or uneasiness.
verb
To use a winch
verb
To kick with impatience or uneasiness.
Example Sentences
- "It runs on clattering steel tracks; the driver sits in a cab over the tracks, operating the controls that rotate the arm and turn the winch."
- "the mule[…]being likewise frighted by that terrible blow, ran away as fast as it could about the fields, and within two or three winches overthrew him to the ground"
- "Winch in those sails, lad!"
- "It is not the first time a cat-o'-nine-tails has been across my back for other men's misdeeds. Promise me a good flask of brandy when I'm done with it, and I warrant ye I'll never winch."
- "They “clicked” each other, kidded each other, and by and by they would “winch” and marry each other."
- "It was common knowledge that he'd winched dozens of girls while she had been sharing a bedroom with her two brothers."
Etymology
From Middle English wynche, from Old English winċe, from Proto-Germanic *winkijǭ, ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European *weng- (“to bow, bend, arch, curve”), whence also wink.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: wynche, winċe, *winkijǭ, *weng-, hlēapewince