Dictionary

wind down en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /waɪnd ˈdaʊn/
• (Australia) audio

Meanings

1. (idiomatic, of an object that can be raised or lowered, transitive) To lower by winding, as with a crank or windlass.
   • Wind down the car window if you want to talk to me.
2. (idiomatic, of a device with a mainspring, transitive) To unwind.
   • You'd better wind down that wind-up toy before you take it apart, or pieces might go flying.
3. (idiomatic, transitive) To shut down slowly (by degrees or in phases).
   • As a result, Bowman admitted, Sellafield’s scientists are having to invent, mid-marathon, the process of winding the site down – and they’re finding that they still don’t know enough about it. December 15 2022, Samanth Subramanian, “Dismantling Sellafield: the epic task of shutting down a nuclear site”, in The Guardian:
   • A program as complex as the Space Shuttle program takes some time to wind down.
4. (idiomatic, intransitive) To slow, as if coming to an end; to become calmer or less busy.
   • The festival seems to be winding down now.
   • As the bar event started to wind down past midnight, Ryan and a group of friends walked over to an after-hours house party at a residence on Burfield Drive, parallel to the major ski resorts. 2026 August 18, Nicholas Muhoro, “Ryan Shtuka, 20, Vanished After Leaving a House Party at a Ski Resort in 2018. His Walk Home Was Only 300 Metres”, in Skip Boring, archived from the original on 18 Aug 2026:
5. (idiomatic, intransitive) To relax; to get rid of stress; to destress.
   • After a long day at work, she winds down by kickboxing.

Forms

Antonyms

activate · start up · roll up · power up · wind up · boot up · wind · wind up · activate · fire up · power up · raise

Deriveds

winddown

Synonyms

taper off · chill out · roll down · let off steam · unwind · unwind · deactivate · unwind · calm down · shut down · lower

Translations (3)

de abwickeln (to shut down slowly) · fi lopetella (to shut down slowly) · fi ajaa alas (to shut down slowly)