Dictionary

windlass en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˈwɪnd.ləs/ (UK)

Etymology

From Middle English wyndlas, wyndelas, wyndlasse, wyndelasse, probably an alteration (due to Middle English windel) of Middle English windas, wyndas, wyndace, from Anglo-Norman windase, windeis and Old Northern French windas (compare Old French guindas, Medieval Latin windasius, windasa), from Old Norse vindáss (“windlass”, literally “winding-pole”), from vinda (“to wind”) + áss (“pole”). Compare Icelandic vindilass.

Meanings

1. Any of various forms of winch, in which a rope or cable is wound around a cylinder, used for lifting heavy weights
2. A winding and circuitous way; a roundabout course.
   • With windlasses and with assays of bias, / By indirections find directions out. c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i], line 65:
3. An apparatus resembling a winch or windlass, for bending the bow of an arblast, or crossbow.

Forms

Deriveds

Spanish windlass

Translations (30)

be лябёдка (winch) · la tormentum (winch) · it argano (winch) · ru лебёдка (winch) · mk ди́галка (winch) · ota ارغات (winch) · la sucula (winch) · ca argue (winch) · sh sidreno vitlo (winch) · pl kołowrót (winch) · bg макара (winch) · mi huritaura (winch) · uk лебідка (winch) · he כַּנֶּנֶת (winch) · ota بوجرغات (winch) · it bozzello (winch) · it salpareti (winch) · tr bocurgat (winch) · uk брашпиль (winch) · bg хаспел (winch) · ota چقرق (winch) · cs rumpál (winch) · it verricello (winch) · be бра́шпіль (winch) · fi vintturi (winch) · nrf vitheveau (winch) · es malacate (winch) · ru бра́шпиль (winch) · gl guindastre (winch) · tl biling-bilingan (winch)

windlass en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˈwɪnd.ləs/ (UK)

Etymology

From Middle English wyndlas, wyndelas, wyndlasse, wyndelasse, probably an alteration (due to Middle English windel) of Middle English windas, wyndas, wyndace, from Anglo-Norman windase, windeis and Old Northern French windas (compare Old French guindas, Medieval Latin windasius, windasa), from Old Norse vindáss (“windlass”, literally “winding-pole”), from vinda (“to wind”) + áss (“pole”). Compare Icelandic vindilass.

Meanings

1. To raise with, or as if with, a windlass; to use a windlass.
   • A favoring breeze enabled us to sail all the way down the lake, and (having been windlassed across the haul-over) even down the canals. 1882, Constance Gordon-Cumming, “Ningpo and the Buddhist Temples”, in The Century Magazine:
2. To take a roundabout course; to work warily or by indirect means.
   • He could not expect to allure him forward, and therefore drives him as far back as he can; that so he may be the more sure of him at the rebound; as a skilful woodsman, that by windlassing presently gets a shoot, which, without taking a compass and thereby a commodious stand, he could never have obtained. a. 1660, Henry Hammond, a sermon:

Forms