winch

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See also: Winch

English[edit]

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /wɪnt͡ʃ/
  • (file)
  • Rhymes: -ɪntʃ

Etymology 1[edit]

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.

Noun[edit]

winch (plural winches)

  1. 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.
  2. (nautical) A hoisting machine used for loading or discharging cargo, or for hauling in lines. (FM 55-501).
    • 2013, J. M. Coetzee, chapter 27, in The Childhood of Jesus, Melbourne, Australia: The Text Publishing Company, page 267:
      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.
  3. A wince (machine used in dyeing or steeping cloth).
  4. A kick, as of an animal, from impatience or uneasiness.
  5. (Nigeria, slang) Witch.
Derived terms[edit]
Descendants[edit]
  • Tok Pisin: winis
  • Arabic: وِنْش (winš)
  • Japanese: ウインチ
  • Norwegian Bokmål: vinsj
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: vinsj
  • Serbo-Croatian: vȉnč
  • Swahili: winchi
  • Swedish: vinsch
  • Ottoman Turkish: وینچ (vinç)
Translations[edit]

Verb[edit]

winch (third-person singular simple present winches, present participle winching, simple past and past participle winched)

  1. To use a winch
    Winch in those sails, lad!
Translations[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

See wince.

Verb[edit]

winch (third-person singular simple present winches, present participle winching, simple past and past participle winched)

  1. To wince; to shrink
    • 1812, Joanna Baillie, The Dream, part Act 1:
      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.
  2. To kick with impatience or uneasiness.

French[edit]

Noun[edit]

winch m (plural winchs)

  1. (nautical) winch

Further reading[edit]