674 
WIN 
W I N 
Follow chearful to the trembling town ; 
Press but an entrance, and presume it won. Dry den. 
To gain the victory in a contest. 
Thy well breath’d horse 
Impels the flying car, and wins the course. Dry den. 
To gain something withheld, or something valuable.— 
When you see my son, tell him, that his sword can never 
win the honour that he loses. Shakspeare. —To obtain; to 
allure to kindness or compliance. 
Devilish Macbeth 
By many of these trains hath sought to win me. Shakspeare. 
To gain by play.—He had given a disagreeable vote in 
parliament, for which reason not a man would have so much 
correspondence with him as to win his money. Addison.— 
To gain by persuasion. 
They win great numbers to receive 
With joy the tidings brought from heaven. 
To gain by courtship. 
She’s beautiful; and therefore to be woo’d: 
She is a woman, therefore to be won. 
To WIN, v. n. To gain the victory. 
Nor is it ought but just, 
That he who in debate of truth hath won, 
Should win in arms. 
To gain influence or favour.—You have a softness and be¬ 
neficence winning on the hearts of others. Dry den. —To 
gain ground.—The rabble will in time win upon power. 
Shakspeare. —To be conqueror or gainer at play. 
Charles, I will play no more to-night; 
My mind’s not on’t, you are too hard for me. 
— Sir, I did never win of you before. 
— But little, Charles; 
Nor shall not when my fancy’s on my play. Shakspeare. 
WINANDERMERE,or Windermere, a parish of Eng¬ 
land, in the county of Westmoreland, which takes its name 
from the famous lake of Windermere, and comprehends the 
three townships of A p pi check, Troutbeck, and Windermill- 
beck. The lake of Windermere, which is the most exten¬ 
sive in England, is situated at the foot of the Furness fells, 
and forms the boundary line between the counties of West¬ 
moreland and Lancashire, from Brathbridge to the river by 
which Easthwaite water is discharged into the lake; the 
w hole of which to the south of this point being in Lanca¬ 
shire, and the whole to the north in Westmoreland. It is 
distinguished by the variety of beautiful prospects which it 
exhibits. It is about 15 miles in length from north to south, 
and about one mile broad at an average, although in many 
places it is not more than 500 yards. The greatest depth is 
about 220 feet, opposite Ecclefrig crag. It is famous for its 
fine char, and abounds also with trout, perch, pike, and eels. 
This lake is frequently intersected by promontories, which 
render its shores very winding; and it is spotted with islands. 
Among these, the Holme, or Great island, on an oblong tract 
of about 30 acres, with a good house on it, crosses the lake 
in an oblique line, surrounded by a number of inferior isles, 
finely formed and wooded. They make together a kind of 
archipelago. In navigating it upward, from the Great island, 
the extremity appears singularly grand, its parts neat and 
picturesque; and the view of the surrounding scenery, from 
Cove to Kirkston, is astonishingly sublime and beautiful. 
WINBROUGII, a hill of Scotland, in Roxburghshire. 
WINCANTON, a market town and parish of England, 
in the county of Somerset, situated on the declivity of a hill, 
which commands a beautiful prospect of the adjacent 
country. It is a place of considerable antiquity, and was 
the scene of many actions and encounters between the Britons, 
Saxons, and Danes. It has a church," with a square tower 
and 6 bells, and a neat market-house. Great part of the 
town was destroyed by fire in the month of April, 1747. 
The inhabitants carry on a considerable trade in the manu¬ 
facture of ticks and dowlas, serges, and stockings, and also 
in cheese, great quantities of which are brought hither from 
the neighbouring towns, and disposed of to dealers from 
London. Market on Wednesday, and two annual fairs; 
24 miles south of Bath, and 108 west-by-south of London. 
Population 1850. 
To WINCE, v. n. [gwingo , Welsh.] To kick as impa¬ 
tient of a rider, or of pain. 
I will sit as quiet as a lamb, 
I will not stir, nor wince, nor speak a wmrd. Shakspeare. 
WINCEBY, a parish of England, in Lincolnshire; 4 
miles east-by-south of Horncastle. 
WI'NCER, s. A kicking beast; one wincing as a beast. 
—A slovenly wincer of a confutation. Milton. 
WINCH, s. [guincher, French, to twist.] A windlass; 
something held in the hand by which a wheel or cylinder is 
turned —Put a winch with the wheel. Mortimer. 
To WINCH, v. a. [The same with wince, or perhaps 
from guincher, French, to twist; winch signifying some¬ 
times to writhe or contort the body.] To kick with impa¬ 
tience ; to shrink from any uneasiness. 
We who have free souls, 
It touches not, let the gall’d jade winch ; 
Our withers are unwrung. Shakspeare. 
WINCH, s. A kick of a beast impatient of the rider or 
of pain.-—The mule, frighted by that terrible blow’, ran away 
as fast as it could about the fields, and within two or three 
winches overthrew him to the ground. Shelton. 
WINCH, East, a parish of England, in Norfolk; 6 
miles south-east-by-east of Lynn Regis. 
WINCH, West, another parish of England, in the above 
county, situated near the river Yar; 3 miles south of Lynn 
Regis. 
WINCH AM, or Winsham, a hamlet of England, in 
Cheshire; 2 miles north-east of Norwich. 
WINCHCOMBE, a market town of England, in the 
county of Gloucester, situated on a small stream called the 
Isbourne, which runs into the Avon. The houses are in 
general well built, but the church is the principal building 
deserving notice: it is a noble Gothic structure, with a tower 
at the west end, and contains several handsome monuments. 
Besides the church, here are three charity schools, and an 
almshouse. Winchcombe is a town of great antiquity, and 
was once deemed a county of itself, -enjoying peculiar privi¬ 
leges. The town or borough, as it is called, is governed by 
two bailiffs, chosen annually. Kenulph, king of Mercia, had 
a palace here in the 8th century; he also founded a monastery 
in the place, whose abbot afterwards sat in parliament as a 
baron. Not the least vestiges of it now remain. Until the 
reign of Charles II. this place was noted for its plantations of 
tobacco. Market on Saturday, and three annual fairs, one 
of which, in March, is a large one for horses; 16 miles north¬ 
east of Gloucester, and 93 west-north-west of London. Po¬ 
pulation 1256. 
WINCHELSEA, a borough and Market town of England, 
in the county ot Sussex, is a place of great antiquity, and was 
once populous and flourishing, but is now reduced to only 
126 houses. Of the ancient town little more is known. It 
is a member of the Cinque Ports. During the turbulent 
reign of Henry III. its sailors were famed for committing 
piracies on the high seas. Edward III. attacked the place, 
took it by storm, and put to death the principal persons who 
were concerned in these piracies. The town also suffered 
under another and still more grievous calamity, being inun¬ 
dated by a rising of the sea, which took place about the end 
of the 12th century. This calamity does not appear to have 
come on so suddenly as not to give some warning to the 
inhabitants of their danger; and they accordingly appear to 
have built other habitations, on ground assigned them for 
the purpose by Edward I. This town, encouraged by the 
favour of the sovereign, who continued to it all the privileges 
enjoyed by the old town, increased in buildings and popula¬ 
tion ; but in less than twenty years was twice pillaged, first 
by the French, and again by the Spaniards, who landed near 
Farley Head. In 1358 the French once more attacked and 
partly 
Milton. 
Shakspeare. 
