winding-rope 
were of hemp or manila ; at tiie present time steel wire 
is chiefly used, and both flat and round ropes are em- 
ployed. In one of the largest Belgian coal-mines, in which 
the lift is 7t>5 yards, the rope (which tapers toward the 
bottom) weighs (3 tons. 
winding-sheet (wiu'ding-shet), ». 1. A sheet 
in which a corpse is wrapped. 
These arms of mine shall be thy tcindiixg -sheet; 
My heart, sweet boy, shall be thy sepulchre. 
Shak., 3 Hen. VI., ii. 5. 114. 
2. Solidified dripi)iiigs of grease from a caudle 
which cling to the side of it and present some 
resemblance to drapery in its folds and creases. 
The appearance of this has been fancied to be 
an omen of death or other misfortune. 
He . . . fell asleep on his arms, ... a long winding- 
sheet iu the candle dripping down upon hini. 
Dickens, Tale of Two Cities, ii. 4. 
winding-stairs (^vin'ding-starz), n. A ladder- 
shell; a scalaria; a wentletrap. See cut un- 
der ScaJaria. 
The Dutch call these shells winding-staira. 
P. P. Carpenter, Lect. Mollusca, 1861. 
winding-sticks (wm'ding-stiks), n.pl. In join- 
cry, two short sticks or strips of wood with 
parallel edges, placed across the two ends of 
a board to test its freedom from warps or 
winds. 
winding-tackle (wiu'ding-tak^'l), n. A heavy- 
tackle for use with a winding-pendant. 
winding-up (win'ding-np'), 11. The act of one 
who "winds up, in any sense. 
It is curious that in the unnding-up of each of these 
pieces the same expedient is employed. 
Gifford, Int. to Ford's Plays, p. xli. 
wind-instrument (wind'in^^stro-ment), n. A 
musical instrument the sound of which is pro- 
duced by a stream of compressed air, usually 
by the breath. Chief of such instruments is the human 
voice. Wind-instruments blown by the breath are divided 
into two classes : xoood ivind-instrtiments, including the 
flute, flageolet, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, English horn, etc.; 
and brass or 7>ie(aiM7inrf-iJw(nnn«7ite,including the trumpet, 
horn, tromlwne, tuba, ophicleide, etc. \Vind-instruments 
sounded by air mechanically compressed include the pipe- 
organ and the reed-organ, together with the bagpipe, and, 
in a certain sense, the .tlolian harp. The method of tone- 
production in all these instruments, except the last, is 
either the vibration induced in a stream of air by direct- 
ing it against a sharp edge, as in the flute and in flue- 
pipes in the organ, or the vibration induced in an elastic 
tongue or reed in or over an oriflce through which a stream 
of air is driven, as in the voice, the clarinet, and the reed- 
organ. Sometimes both methods are used in the same in- 
strument, as in the pipe-organ. 
With a ivind instrument my master made, 
In five days you may breathe ten languages, 
As perfect as the devil or himself. 
T. Tomkis (?), Albumazar, i. 3. 
windlacef, n. Same as tvindla^s^. 
windlass^f (wind'las), n. [Early mod. E. also 
windlacc. windlasses windlessey wyndelcsse ; per- 
haps < ME. *windels (= MLG. windelse, a wind- 
ing, hurdle-work, LG. tvindels, a winding, as 
the winding of a screw, or the ornamental 
work on a sword-hilt), < AS. windan, etc., turn, 
wind: see «•//<</!, and cf. w/iif/Zc] 1. A wind- 
ing or turning; a circuitous course; a circuit. 
Hewar that fetteth the wyiidelesse in huntyng — hveur. 
Palsgrave, p. '231. 
Amonge theis be appoynted a fewe horsemen to rannge 
som what abrode for the greater appearance, bitlding them 
fetche a windlasse a great waye about, and to make al 
toward one place. Golding, tr. of Cicsar, fol. 20C. 
I now fetching a windlesse, that I myght better haue a 
shoote. Lyiy, Euphues and liis England, p. 270. 
Hence — 2. Any indirect, artful course; cir- 
cumvention; art and contrivance ; subtleties. 
Tims do we of wisdom and of reach. 
With windlasses and with assays of bias, 
Uy indirections find directions out. 
Sfuik., Hamlet, ii. 1. 65. 
windlass^t (wind'las), V. [Early mod. E. also 
uindldce; < icindUiss^j «.] I, intrans. 1. To 
take a circuitous path; fetch a compass. 
A skilful woodsman by wtndia«8trt^ presentlygcts ashoot 
which without taking a compass ... he could nevei- have 
obtained. Hammond, Works, IV. 615. {Latham.) 
2. To adopt a circuitous, artful, or cunning 
course; use stratagem; act indirectly or warily. 
She is not so much at leasurc as to windlace, ov use craft, 
to satisfy them. Hammond, Works, IV. 666. (Latham.) 
II. trayts. To bend; turn about; bewilder. 
Your words, my friend! (right healthful caustics!) blame 
My young mind marred, whom love doth windlass so. 
Sir P. Sidney (Arber's Eng. Garner, I. r.13). 
windlass'-^ (wind'las), //. [Early mod. E, also 
windles; a corruption of icindtis, nindass, Ijy con- 
fusion \v\th windlasn'^.] 1. A modification of 
t lie wheel and axle, used for raising weights, etc. 
One kind ijf windlass is the winch used fur raising water 
fruni wells, etc., whicli has an axle turned by a crank, and 
6936 
a rope or chain for raising the weight by being wound 
round the axle. A simple form of windlass, much used 
in ships for ris- 
ing the anchors f^d _e_ _j?_ df 
or obtaining a pur- 
chase on otiier oc- 
casions, consists of 
a strong beam of 
wood placed hori- 
zontally, and sup- 
ported at its ends 
by iron spindles 
which turn in col- 
lars or bushes in- 
Windla&s. 
ratchet-heads; *, d, dniniheads; 
laia vji ijuaiicD lu- ^^^^ whelus built nround a spindle which is 
Serted m Wliat are joumaled in the cheeks d, d. The pawls are 
*"' -^ *»-- -> pivoted in the pawl-bitts e, e, and sustain the 
strain while the handspikes, which rotate the 
windlass by being placed like spokes in the 
holes of the drumheads, are being shifted 
/ purchase. 
for a 
termed the vmid- 
lasS'bitts. This 
large axle is 
pierced with holes 
directed toward 
its center, in which long levei-s or handspikes are inserted 
for turning it round when the anchor is to be weighed or 
any purchase is required. It is furnished with pawls to 
prevent it from turning backward when the pressure on 
the handspikes is intermitted. Different arrangements 
of gearing are applied to a windlass to exert increased 
power, and steam-windl asses, in which a small steam- 
engine Is made to heave the windlass round, have come 
largely into use. Compare capstan (with cut), and cut 
under winch. 
2+. A handle by whicli anything is turned; 
specifically, a winch-like contrivance for bend- 
ing the arbalist or crossbow. See crossbow. 
The arblast was a cross-bow, the windlace the machine 
used in bending that weapon. Scott, Ivanhoe, xxviii. , note. 
Differential or Chinese windlass, a windlass with a 
barrel differing in diameter in different paits, the rope 
winding upon the larger and unwinding from the smaller 
portion. The amount of absolute lift and of the power 
exerted is determined by the difference in the two diam- 
eters of the barrel. — Spanish windlass {naut.), an ex- 
temporized purchase made by winding a rope round a 
roller and inserting a lever in a hitch or bight of the 
rope. By heaving round the lever a considerable strain 
is produced. 
windlass- (wind'las), v. [< windlass^, n.~\ ^ I. 
intrans. To use a windlass; raise something 
as by a windlass. 
Let her [Truth] rest, my dear sir, at the bottom of her 
well; . . . none of our ivindlassing wiW ever bring her 
up. Miss Edgeworth, Helen, xiv. 
II. trans. To hoist or haul by means of a 
windlass. 
The stern line began to draw, and the sloop was icind- 
lassed clear of the stone pile and saved. 
The Centurg, XXXIX. 226. 
windle (win'dl), n. [< ME. windel, as in comp. 
^arn-windely a wheel on which yarn is wound, 
< AS. windel (= MD. windel, a wheel, pulley, 
roll, cradle, = MLG. windle, a roll, etc.), < win- 
dan, etc., turn, wind: see wind^, and cf. wind- 
lass^.'] 1. An implement or engine for turning 
or winding: used iu different senses locally. 
To force the water . . . with devise of engines and 
windles up to the top of the hill. 
Holland, tr. of Pliny, xxxvi. 15. 
Speak her fair and canny, or we will have a ravelled 
hasp on the yarn-windles. Scott, I'irate, v. 
From a windle the thread is conducted to the quills. 
S. Judd, Margaret, 1. 2. 
2. The windthrush or redwing, Turdiis iliacus. 
Sec cut 2 under thrush'^. [Devonshire, Eng.] 
— 3. A dry measure, equal to about 3| Win- 
chester bushels. The official returns for 1879 showed 
that it was not then entirely obsolete. It is there stated 
as 220/58? imperial bushels of wheat, 180/50 bushels of 
barley, or 220/62.857 bushels of beans. 
80 wgndels of barley . . . £40. 
//. Hall, Society in Elizabethan Age, App., i. 
windiest, n. An obsolete foi'm of windkiss'^. 
(Uttfjravc. 
windless (wind'les), a. [< wind'^ + -less.] 1. 
Free from or unaffected by wind ; calm ; un- 
rnffied. 
A windless sea under the moon of midnight. liuskin. 
A ivindless, cloudless even. Williatn Morris, Sigurd, iii. 
2. "Wanting wind; out of breath. 
Binding his hands and knitting a handkercher about 
his eyes, that he should not see, and when they had made 
liim sure and fast, then they laid him on until they were 
windless. Hannan, Caveat for Cui-setors, p. 96. 
windlessef, n. An obsolete form of icindlass^. 
windlestraw (win'dl-stra), n. [Also Sc. ivin- 
dlestrse; < AS. windelstreow, straw for plaiting, 
< windel, a woven basket, etc., + sfreow, etc., 
straw: seetvindle andsirmc'^.] 1. Theold stalk 
of various grasses, as the tufted hair-grass, Des- 
ehampsia (Aira) csespitosa, the dog's-tail, Cyno- 
surus cristatus, or Apera {Agrosils) Spica-venti. 
Tall spires of wtmllestrae 
Threw their thin shadows down the rugged slope. 
Shelley, Alastor. 
2. The whitethroat, Sylvia cinerea: same as 
jackstraiv, 5. [Local, Eng.] 
windliftt (wind'lift), n. [A perversion of wind- 
lass, windlfssc, the second element being made 
to simulate lift-.] A windlass. 
windmilly 
A Wind-li/t to heave up a gross Scandal. 
Roger North, Examen, p. 354. 
windling (wind'ling), 7i. [< wind^ + -ling^,'] A 
branch blown down Vjy the wind. [Prov. Eng.] 
wind-marker (wind'mar'-'ker), n. A movable 
aiTow or other device for showing on a chart 
the direction of the wind at any point. 
windmill (wind'mil), n. [< ME. windmille, wind- 
meUe, windmxdle, windmilne, wyndemylne = D. 
windmolen = MHG. wint- 
miil, G. windmiihle ; < 
w?u(d2 + miW^t «.] 1. 
A mill or machine for 
grinding, pumping, or 
other purposes, moved 
by the wind ; a wind- 
motor; any form of mo- 
tor for utilizing the pres- 
sure of the wind as a mo- 
tive power. Two types of 
machines are used, the hori- 
zontal and the vertical. The 
vertical motor consists essen- 
tially of a horizontal shaft 
called the wind-sfia/t, with a 
combination of sails or vanes 
fixed at the end of the shaft, 
and suitable gearing for con- 
veying the motion of the 
wind-shaft to the pump or 
other machinery. The older 
types of windmill used four 
vanes or sail -frames called 
whips, covered with canvas, 
an-angements being provided 
for reefing the sails in high 
winds. To present the vanes 
to the wind, the whole struc- 
ture or tower cairying the 
windmill was at first turned 
round by means of a long 
lever. I^terthetopof the tow- 
er, called the cap, was made 
movable. Windmills are now 
made with niauy wooden 
vanes forming a disk exposed 
to the winds, and fitted with 
automatic feathering and steering machinery, governors 
for regulating the speed, apparatus for closing the vanes 
in storms, etc. These improved windmills are chiefly of 
American invention, and are largely used in all parta of 
Windmill. 
, frame ; *, sails ; c, 
pump-rod. 
:.iiiipton. New York. 
the United States for pumping water. Horizontal wind- 
mills employ an upright wind-shaft, and movable vanes 
placed in a circle round it, the vanes feathering when 
moving against the wind. 
I saugh him carien a wind-melle 
Under a walshe-note shale. 
Chaucer, House of Fame, 1. 1280. 
2. A visionary scheme ; a vain project; a fancy; 
a chimera. 
He lived and d ied with general councils in his pate, with 
windmills of union to concord Rome and England, Eng- 
land and Rome, Oenuany with them both. 
Bp. Hacket, Abp. Williams, i. 102. (Davies.) 
To fight windmills, to combat chimeras or imaginary 
opponents: in allusion to Don Quixote's adventure with 
the win<lmills. 
windmill-cap (wind'mil-kap), n. The movable 
upper part of a windmill, which tui-ns to present 
the sails in the direction of the wind. See icind- 
mill. 
windmill-grass (wiud'mil-gras), w. A showy 
grass, Chloris Inwcata, of southeastern Aus- 
tralia: so named apparently from its six to ten 
long spreading flower-spikes. 
windmill-plant (wind'mil-plaut), «. Same as 
trhf/rajfh-plant. 
windmilly (wind'mil-i), a. [< windmill + -y^.] 
Abounding with windmills. [Rare.] 
