windmilln.
/ˈwɪn(d)mɪl/, U.S. /ˈwɪn(d)ˌmɪl/ 1. A mill the machinery of which is driven by the wind acting upon sails, used (chiefly in flat districts) for grinding corn, pumping water, etc. The older and most characteristic European form consists of a conical mill-house with a dome or ‘cap’ carrying (usually) four sails; the modern American type consists of a disk of sails mounted on a framework of girders, and is used chiefly for pumping or sawing.The sails (sail n.1 5) are turned by the force of the wind around an axis or wind-shaft, usually nearly horizontal and having some contrivance (now often automatic) for turning it in any direction to enable the sails to catch the wind.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > mills > [noun] > windmill
windmill1297
1297 R. Gloucester's Chron. (Rolls) 11383 Þe king of alemaine was in a windmulle inome.
c1384 G. Chaucer Hous of Fame iii. 190 Y saugh him carien a wyndmelle Vnder a walsh note shale.
a1400 Gloss in T. Wright & J. O. Halliwell Reliquiæ Antiquæ (1845) I. 7 Ventagile, a wyndmylne.
c1450 Godstow Reg. 63 His winde-mille þat stondit vppon hoge wiþ-oute þe towne of doninton.
1546 in W. Page Certificates Chantries County of York (1894) I. 11 The rente of a wynde mylle there, xxs.
1598 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 1 iii. i. 158 I had rather liue With cheese and garlike in a Windmil . View more context for this quotation
c1605 Lady Bessy (Harl. 367) (1847) 77 He went up unto a wynde mylne, And stoode upon a hyll soe hye.
1630 tr. G. Botero Relations Famous Kingdomes World (rev. ed.) 644 At no time there bloweth so much wind as will move a windmill.
1760 J. Smeaton in Philos. Trans. 1759 (Royal Soc.) 51 159 Windmills, such as the different species for raising water for drainage, &c.
1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth II. 21 If we look upon the sails of a windmill moving, at a distance, they appear to go very slow.
1841 T. A. Trollope Summer W. France I. xii. 212 Behind the town is a high bluff..entirely covered with windmills.
1885 Law Rep.: Appeal Cases 10 411 Some spars and canvas were sacrificed in order to erect a windmill to assist in working the pumps.
1888 Encycl. Brit. XXIV. 599/2 American windmills generally have the sails arranged in an annulus or disk.
2. A figure of a windmill; a sign or character resembling this, as a cross or asterisk. Also attributive. Now rare or Obsolete.
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society > communication > writing > written character > punctuation > [noun] > asterisks, etc.
stara1382
crossc1400
windmill1402
asterisk1612
N.B.1651
asterisma1657
nota bene1738
1402 Polit. Poems (Rolls) II. 57 I know not an a from the wynd-mylne.
1583 A. Nowell et al. True Rep. Disput. E. Campion Sig. I2 A note is a marke that may be remoued, that teacheth to turne..by this crosse, or by that windmill or marke.
1898 E. E. Morris Austral Eng. Windmill J.P., expression formerly used in New South Wales for any J.P. who was ill-educated and supposed to sign his name with a cross x.
3.
a. A model of a windmill.
b. A toy consisting of a cross-shaped piece of card or other light substance fixed at the end of a stick so as to revolve like the sails of a windmill when moved through the air.
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society > communication > representation > a plastic or graphic representation > three-dimensional representation > [noun] > other models
windmill1557
paper boata1637
Nilometer1794
paper airplane1921
ship in a bottle1949
society > leisure > entertainment > toy or plaything > other toys > [noun] > windmill
windmill1557
whirl-jack1653
whirligig1659
pinwheel1869
1557 Will of Edward Pettinger (P.R.O.: PROB. 11/39) f. 276v I giue..to my vncle..my wyndemylle whych hangeth in my hall.
1598 J. Florio Worlde of Wordes Ventaréllo,..a piece of a card or paper cut like a crosse, and with a pin put in at the end of a sticke, which running against the wind doth twirle about, our English children call it a wind-mill.
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Virolet, as Ventail, a boyes windmill.
1836 C. Hooton Adventures Bilberry Thurland I. v. 113 Last week,..I sold windmills and lambs for children.
1853 C. Dickens Bleak House xiv. 143 I so conciliated Peepy's affections by buying him a windmill and two flour-sacks, that [etc.].
c. Cricket. A style of bowling with a high overarm delivery. ? Obsolete.
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society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > cricket > bowling > [noun] > manner of bowling > specific
fast bowling1816
lobbing1824
bias bowling1833
windmill1867
fast-medium1890
flick1897
whip1903
swerve-bowling1930
body line1933
tweaking1949
swing bowling1953
spin-bowling1955
seam-bowling1956
pace bowling1958
nip1963
wrist-spinning1963
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > cricket > bowling > [adjective] > manner of bowling
straight-arm1807
straight-armed1827
round-arm1835
round hand1847
underhand1850
round-armed1854
wristy1867
fast-medium1873
under-arm1877
quick1899
windmill1900
body line1932
1867 Australasian 19 Jan. 76/3 A change in bowling was tried, Wardill going on with his ‘windmills’, vice Conway.
1900 W. A. Bettesworth Walkers of Southgate 124 Taking his run up to the wicket, swinging his arm in what has been described as ‘a windmill action’.
1920 E. R. Wilson in P. F. Warner Cricket (Badminton Libr. of Sports & Pastimes) (new ed.) ii. 86 Spofforth's windmill deliveries.
4. figurative and allusively.† a. A fanciful notion, a crotchet; a visionary scheme or project. Obsolete.
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the mind > mental capacity > perception or cognition > faculty of imagination > fancy or fantastic notion > [noun]
phantoma1375
fantasyc1440
conceitc1450
fancy1471
crotchet1573
whim-wham1580
vision1592
reverie1602
whimsy1607
windmill1612
brainworm1617
maggota1625
vapour1631
flama1637
fantastic1641
idea1660
whim1697
rockstaff1729
whigmaleery1730
vagary1753
freak1785
whimsy-whamsy1807
crankum1822
whimmery1837
the mind > will > decision > irresolution or vacillation > inconstancy > [noun] > capriciousness > a caprice or whim
fantasya1450
wantonness1531
humour1533
worm?a1534
will1542
toy?1545
whey-worm1548
wild worm1548
freak1563
crotchet1573
fancy1579
whim-wham1580
whirligig1589
caper1592
megrim1593
spleen1594
kicksey-winsey1599
fegary1600
humorousness1604
curiosity1605
conundrum1607
whimsy1607
windmill1612
buzza1616
capriccioa1616
quirka1616
flama1625
maggota1625
fantasticality1631
capruch1634
gimcrack1639
whimseycado1654
caprich1656
excursion1662
frisk1665
caprice1673
fita1680
grub1681
fantasque1697
whim1697
frolic1711
flight1717
whigmaleery1730
vagary1753
maddock1787
kink1803
fizgig1824
fad1834
whimmery1837
fantod1839
brain crack1853
whimsy-whamsy1871
tic1896
tick1900
1612 J. Webster White Divel ii. ii. 12 Others that raise up their confederate spirits, 'Bout wind-mils.
1622 T. Dekker & P. Massinger Virgin Martir ii. sig. D4 Thy head is full of Winde-mils.
1639 J. Clarke Paroemiologia 158 He hath wind-milnes in 's head.
1648 W. Jenkyn Ὁδηγος Τυϕλος iii. 39 You have a windmill upon your pate.
1728 Earl of Ailesbury Mem. (1890) 576 Frize, who had a windmill in her head like her husband.
1749 G. Lavington Enthusiasm Methodists & Papists: Pt. I 27 The Wind-mill is indeed in all their Heads.
b. In allusions to the story of Don Quixote (see Quixote n. and adj.) tilting at windmills under the delusion that they were giants.
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the mind > mental capacity > perception or cognition > faculty of imagination > faculty of conceiving ideals > tendency towards romance > romantic conduct > [noun]
quixotism1620
windmill1645
errantry1654
knight-errantry1660
quixotry1703
Don 'Quixotism1719
romance1745
quixoticism1850
1645 J. Cleveland Char. London Diurnall 3 The Quixotes of this Age fight with the Wind-mills of their owne Heads.
1646 M. Lluelyn Men-miracles 84 No doubty Don Quixote, like those that fight, With Warlike Wind mill, and then rise up Knight.
a1655 R. Cox Actæon & Diana (1656) 30 The Barber..vows to make you the windmill, whilest he plays Don Quixot against you furiously.
a1658 J. Cleveland Clievelandi Vindiciæ (1677) 112 Thus the Quixots of this Age fight with the Windmils of their own heads.
1782 F. Burney Cecilia V. ix. iii. 41 Our giants may, indeed, be only windmills.
1869 J. S. Le Fanu Wyvern Myst. III. 105 What have I to do wi' other folk's windmills?
1894 F. W. Farrar Life Christ 84 (note) Dr. Edersheim is again—so far as I am concerned—fighting a windmill.
1898 J. Hollingshead Gaiety Chron. i. 37 I was always a tilter at windmills.
1937 A. Christie Death on Nile xxiv. 238 Rather eccentric..inclined to tilt at windmills.
1978 P. Bryers Cat Trapper viii. 57 Mike was into the sort of thing I'd like to be doing... Tilting at windmills?
c. to fling (throw) one's cap over the windmill [= French jeter son bonnet par-dessus les moulins] : to act recklessly and defiantly, fly in the face of convention.
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the world > action or operation > manner of action > carelessness > incautiousness > be incautious [verb (intransitive)] > be rash or reckless
racklea1425
to set cock on the hoopa1549
to play at hand over head1590
to throw (also toss, fling, etc.) caution to the wind(s)1751
to play the wild1849
rip1858
to fling (throw) one's cap over the windmill1885
1885 E. Lynn Linton Christopher Kirkland xiii A wild out~ward kind of young fellow, who had enjoyed his youth too freely and flung his cap too far over the windmill.
1920 W. J. Locke House of Baltazar xxii You're going to make a bolt with Godfrey and throw your cap over the windmills.
1923 F. H. Kitchin Divers. Dawson 305 Throwing their caps over the windmill under the stimulus of war patriotism.
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the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of internal organs > digestive disorders > [noun] > flatulence > cause of
windmill1616
1616 T. Draxe Bibliotheca Scholastica 80 A full stomacke is a winde~mill.
6. An airscrew, esp. one of the kind designed by Cierva for the autogiro. Now Historical.
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society > travel > air or space travel > a means of conveyance through the air > rotary wing aircraft > [noun] > parts of rotary wing aircraft > rotor
ascensional screw1901
lifting screw1902
rotor1915
windmill1931
tilting rotor1940
tilt rotor1961
1931 Cierva y Cadorniu Wings of Tomorrow 88 I designed the blades of the windmill.
1935 Sun (Baltimore) 31 Jan. 3/3 This new fast auto gyro will have no propeller. It will tilt its present windmill, gear it to the engine and so get its lift and forward drive.
1949 Gloss. Aeronaut. Terms (B.S.I.) ii. 20 Windmill, an airscrew designed to produce power by axial transmission relative to the air.
Compounds
(See also 2). C1. General attributive.
a. † windmill hole n. Obsolete
windmill country n.
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1887 J. J. Hissey Holiday on Road 83 Approaching Mayfield, we entered upon the heart of a windmill country.
windmill hill n.
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1440 in J. Stuart Extracts Council Reg. Aberdeen (1844) I. 395 In quodam ludo de ly Haliblude ludendo apud ly Wyndmylhill.
a1563 V. Leigh Moste Profitable Sci. Surueying (1577) sig. I ijv The most notable knowen markes,..as..Marlepittes,..Brokes,..Windmill hilles, etc.
1569 R. Grafton Chron. II. 275 A little windemill hill heard by.
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1587 Eng. Misc. (Surtees 1890) 91 The oulde walles of the toune from the castell-bridge alongeste the wyndmylle hole.
windmill sail n.
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1583 P. Stubbes Anat. Abuses sig. Fv Sometimes they [sc. ruffs] are suffered to hang ouer their shoulders, like windmil sayles fluttering in the winde.
1760 J. Smeaton in Philos. Trans. 1759 (Royal Soc.) 51 138 In trying experiments on windmill~sails, the wind itself is too uncertain to answer the purpose.
1864 C. Kingsley Let. from Biarritz in Life (1879) II. xxi. 169 The vulture [in the courtyard] has been..expanding concave wings as big as windmill sails.
b. Moving like windmill-sails.
windmill arms n.
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1891 R. Kipling City Dreadful Night 88 The windmill arms and the angry eyes fall.
c. Having a radiating form like windmill-sails.† windmill battle n. Obsolete
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1626 G. Markham Souldiers Gram. ii. v. 65 This..forme of Battaile following, which is called by the name of the Wind-Mill Battaile,..standeth euery way ready prepared to entertaine fight.
d. (In sense 6.)
windmill aeroplane n.
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1931 Statesman (Calcutta) 5 Dec. The Autogiro or ‘windmill’ aeroplane has just been put on the public market in this country for the first time.
windmill plane n. (also windmill airplane)
ΚΠ
1927 Times 27 Apr. 16/3 It was agreed to use the word..aerodyne to designate all heavier-than-air craft, in which category the class name for the windmill plane appears as gyro plane.
1928 Daily Express 10 Aug. 11/4 A ‘windmill’ airplane is to fly the channel.
windmill rotor n.
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1944 H. F. Gregory Anything Horse can Do iv. 48 The stick [of the Autogiro] was connected to the hub of the windmill rotor by push-pull tubes and cables.
windmill wing n.
ΚΠ
1931 Cierva y Cadorniu Wings of Tomorrow 82 A flying machine with a windmill wing.
C2.
windmill-like adj.
ΚΠ
1848 tr. W. Hoffmeister Trav. Ceylon & Continental India vii. 277 Their wind-mill-like wings.
windmill-studded adj.
ΚΠ
1845 R. Ford Hand-bk. Travellers in Spain II. xiii. 585 Corrales under its windmill-studded hill.
C3. † windmillward n. Obsolete = millward n.
windmill brake state n. Aeronautics (see quot. 1969).
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society > travel > air or space travel > a means of conveyance through the air > rotary wing aircraft > [noun] > parts of rotary wing aircraft > rotor > operation or condition of rotor
autorotation1908
coning1931
flapping1937
windmill brake state1948
feathering1970
1948 Jrnl. Royal Aeronaut. Soc. 52 269/1 In the windmill brake state, the rotor is again working in a regular slipstream.
1969 Gloss. Aeronaut. & Astronaut. Terms (B.S.I.) v. 19 Windmill-brake state, the operating condition of a rotor when the rotor thrust and the axial flow through and outside the rotor disc area are all in the same direction.
Thesaurus »
windmill-cap n. the upper story of a windmill when made movable so as to turn the sails to the wind (E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. 1875).
windmill-grass n. an Australian grass, Chloris truncata, with long spreading flower-spikes.
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the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > a grass or grasses > non-British grasses > [noun] > Australian grasses
silver grass1600
buffalo grass1784
cane grass1827
porcupine grass1842
tussock-grass1842
spinifex1846
spear-grass1847
rice grass1848
sugar-grass1862
blue star grass1876
wiregrass1883
windmill-grass1889
danthonia1918
Wimmera rye-grass1920
niggerhead1923
1889 J. H. Maiden Useful Native Plants Austral. 80 Chloris truncata, Windmill Grass.
windmill plant n. = telegraph plant n. at telegraph n. Compounds 2.
windmill-pump n. a pump worked by a windmill, a wind-pump.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > pump > [noun] > operated by windmill
windmill-pump1891
aeromotor1892
1891 C. Roberts Adrift in Amer. 149 A kind of patent windmill~pump.
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the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > preparation of grain > milling or grinding > [noun] > miller
millwardeOE
millerOE
meal-maker1274
windmillward1314
dusty-poll?1518
mill-yemer1530
water miller1533
windmiller1533
pikeman1551
milleress1680
corn-grinder1841
1314–15 Cal. Rotul. Chartarum (1803) 241 Will'us Wynd~milward.
ΚΠ
1645 F. Quarles New Distemper 151/1 Your windmill fancies.
1657 J. Sergeant Schism Dispach't 134 Your vertible and wind-mill uncertainty.
Derivatives
ˈwindˌmiller n. [compare German windmüller] the keeper of a windmill.
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the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > preparation of grain > milling or grinding > [noun] > miller
millwardeOE
millerOE
meal-maker1274
windmillward1314
dusty-poll?1518
mill-yemer1530
water miller1533
windmiller1533
pikeman1551
milleress1680
corn-grinder1841
1533 J. Heywood Play of Wether sig. Biiiiv I am a wynd myller as many mo be.
1654 R. Vilvain Theoremata Theologica iii. f. 113 Like Wind-millers, they make every wind serv their turns.
1705 London Gaz. No. 4170/4 John Childs,..a Wind-Miller by Trade.
1865 W. White Eastern Eng. II. iii. 40 It ‘blew hard enough to winner taters’, as a windmiller in Warwickshire once said to a friend of mine.
ˈwindˌmilly adj. abounding in windmills.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > mills > [adjective] > abounding in windmills
windmilly1863
1863 C. Dickens Uncommerc. Traveller in All Year Round 12 Sept. 61/2 A windmilly country this.
Draft additions June 2021
Chiefly Softball. A type of underarm delivery, used esp. in fast-pitch softball, in which the pitcher moves his or her arm around in a full vertical circle before releasing the ball, resulting in a fast and powerful delivery. Chiefly (and in earliest use) as a modifier, as windmill delivery, windmill pitching, etc.
ΚΠ
1912 Morning Oregonian (Portland, Oregon) 24 Apr. 8/2 (caption) Righthand pitcher with a foghorn voice and windmill windup.
1933 Evening Huronite (Huron, S. Dakota) 21 Aug. 7/1 Allmon..baffled Miller batters with his windmill delivery.
1934 Ottumwa (Iowa) Daily Courier 20 July 8/8 The windmill pitching..occupied a prominent place in the game's spotlight.
1976 F. Hovis Sports Encycl. 34/1 The pitcher may throw as hard as he wants as long as he does not bring his pitching arm above his shoulder during the windup. Thus ‘windmills’..are prohibited.
2007 Coaching Youth Softball (Amer. Sport Educ. Program) (ed. 4) 109/2 Younger players may have trouble coordinating all the different aspects of the windmill pitch.
Draft additions October 2021
A wind turbine used to generate electricity.Early usage (see e.g. quot. 1879) may imply the adaptation of existing windmills to the generation of electricity, rather than dedicated installations.
ΚΠ
1879 Scotsman 7 July 3 By means of windmills acting on dynamo-electric machines a considerable quantity of motion might be transformed into electricity.
1896 Jrnl. Amer. Geogr. Soc. N.Y. 28 276 The Fram [sc. an Arctic and Antarctic exploration ship] fulfilled all expectations. The quarters were warm, there was no illness, and plentiful electric light was derived from the windmill and accumulators.
1975 Science 25 July 256/3 Windmills may require building restrictions in all directions, whereas solar panels can be placed directly on south-facing walls or roofs.
2020 D. Vince Manifesto viii. 97 Our second windmill: a 1.5 megawatt, 70-metre-tall piece of moving art.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1926; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
windmillv.
/ˈwɪn(d)mɪl/, U.S. /ˈwɪn(d)ˌmɪl/ΘΚΠ
the world > time > change > change [verb (intransitive)] > fluctuate or vary
varyc1369
diversify1481
waver1490
to ring (the) changes1614
fluctuate1655
windmill1694
range1750
vibrate1782
vacillate1835
scale1974
1694 N. H. Ladies Dict. 230/2 Not many days had passed ere this extraordinary Passion Wind-mill'd about to the contrary point of the Compass.
b. transitive and intransitive. To move (one's arms or legs) in a manner suggestive of a windmill.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > revolution or rotation > revolve or rotate [verb (transitive)] > as a windmill
windmill1927
1927 W. E. Collinson Contemp. Eng. 18 At this school we had our first taste of fighting or rather windmilling with the arms.
1928 Daily Express 6 Nov. 8 They..set about their efforts again, windmilling his arms and legs until he gasped with unconscious exhaustion.
1959 R. Collier City that wouldn't Die v. 67 Windmilling your arms to keep the blood coursing.
1979 S. Brett Comedian Dies v. 55 Lennie Barber..seemed to lose his balance and sank back, arms windmilling, on to the side of his chair.
1982 W. Boyd Ice-cream War 4 The colonel windmilled his arms and cracked his knuckles.
c. intransitive. Aeronautics. Of the propeller or rotor of an aircraft: to spin unpowered; to windmill down, to descend with the rotor spinning; also figurative.
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society > travel > air or space travel > a means of conveyance through the air > aeroplane > parts of aircraft > means of propulsion > [verb (intransitive)] > assume specific state (of propeller)
feather1933
windmill1934
the world > animals > birds > flight > [verb (intransitive)] > move downwards
to windmill down1976
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > downward motion > falling > fall [verb (intransitive)] > spinning
to windmill down1976
society > travel > air or space travel > specific movements or positions of aircraft > fly [verb (intransitive)] > spin or descend with rotor spinning
spin1914
to windmill down1978
1934 Jrnl. Royal Aeronaut. Soc. 38 18 Captain Barnwell said..that it could be assumed that when an engine was fully throttled the airscrew was windmilling freely.
1942 Flight 26 Mar. 296/2 When an airscrew is wind-milling..the effect is exactly opposite to its normal one.
1958 Listener 2 Jan. 10/1 The rotor windmilling freely as on an autogiro.
1963 Sobey & Suggs Control of Aircraft & Missile Powerplants vii. 181 The forward flight of the airframe will cause the engine to windmill and create sufficient airflow through the engine to minimize the probability of a hot start.
1976 Shooting Times & Country Mag. 16 Dec. 29/2 I shot at another goose which peeled off, flew fluttering for a hundred yards, and then windmilled down stone dead.
1978 M. Babson Tightrope for Three xxvi. 152 Autorotation was a standard and perfectly safe manoeuvre, the helicopter windmilling down with the pilot still in complete control.
Derivatives
ˈwindmilling adj. and n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > revolution or rotation > [adjective] > like a windmill
windmilling1945
society > travel > air or space travel > a means of conveyance through the air > aeroplane > parts of aircraft > means of propulsion > [adjective] > types of propeller > state of propeller
feathered1935
windmilling1945
society > travel > air or space travel > a means of conveyance through the air > aeroplane > parts of aircraft > means of propulsion > [noun] > aircraft engine > propeller > spinning unpowered
windmilling1945
1945 Jrnl. Royal Aeronaut. Soc. 49 716 With the windmilling propeller the changed air-flow over the aircraft does not impair the handling characteristics.
1959 C. A. Meyer in O. E. Lancaster Jet Propulsion Engines 149 A typical curve showing the drag of a turbo~jet engine during windmilling is shown in Fig. C, 11f.
1973 J. Wainwright Touch of Malice 98 The young man was obviously a nutter... His slobbing mouth. His windmilling arms.
1978 M. Farren Feelies 33 The other girl was spun, flat on her back with windmilling arms and legs.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1986; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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