windup

or wind-up

[ wahynd-uhp ]

/ ˈwaɪndˌʌp /

SEE 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.

Origin of windup

First recorded in 1565–75; noun use of verb phrase wind up

Words nearby windup

wind-swept, wind tee, windtight, wind tunnel, wind turbine, windup, wind vane, windward, Windward Islands, Windward Passage, windway

Dictionary.com UnabridgedBased on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Example sentences from the Web for windup

After all that windup, it was finally time for Mitt Romney to make the most difficult and important sales pitch of his life.
Paul Begala on Mitt Romney’s Epic Fail in His GOP Convention Speech|Paul Begala|August 31, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Our morning meal was like a capital English breakfast, with coffee by way of a windup.
A Journey to the Centre of the Earth|Jules Verne
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
“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

It would have been something of a windup to send the boy to the penitentiary.
Dominie Dean|Ellis Parker Butler
He stopped his windup and threw to Menken, who was covering the rubber and yelling to him to throw.
Baseball Joe, Home Run King|Lester Chadwick

British Dictionary definitions for windup

wind up

/ (waɪnd) /

verb (adverb)

to bring to or reach a conclusionhe wound up the proceedings

(tr) to tighten the spring of (a clockwork mechanism)

(tr; usually passive) informal to make nervous, tense, etc; excitehe was all wound up before the big fight

(tr) to roll (thread, etc) into a ball

an informal word for liquidate (def. 2)

(intr) informal to end up (in a specified state)you'll wind up without any teeth

(tr; usually passive) to involve; entanglethey were wound up in three different scandals

(tr) to hoist or haul up

(tr) British slang to tease (someone)

noun wind-up

the act of concluding

the finish; end

British slang an act or instance of teasingshe just thinks it's a big wind-up

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

Idioms and Phrases with windup