Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A stationary motor-driven or hand-powered machine used for hoisting or hauling, having a drum around which is wound a rope or chain attached to the load being moved.
- n. The crank used to give motion to a grindstone or similar device.
- v. To move with or as if with a winch.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. The crank, projecting handle, or lever by which the axis of a revolving machine is turned, as in the common windlass, the grindstone, etc. See cut under Prony's dynamometer.
- n. A kind of hoisting-machine or windlass, in which an axis is turned by means of a crank-handle, and a rope or chain is thus wound round it so as to raise a weight. There are various forms of winches. Either the crank may be attached to the extremity of the winding-roller or -axis, or a large spur-wheel may be attached to the roller, and turned by a pinion on a separate crank-shaft (as shown in the cut), this arrangement giving greater power.
- n. The reel of a fishing-rod.
- n. Same as wince.
- To hoist or haul by means of a winch.
- n. An obsolete or dialectal form of wince.
Wiktionary
- n. A machine consisting of a drum on an axle, a pawl, and a crank handle, with or without gearing, to give increased mechanical advantage when hauling on a rope.
- n. nautical A hoisting machine used for loading or discharging cargo, or for hauling in lines. (FM 55-501).
- n. A wince (machine used in dyeing or steeping cloth).
- v. To use a winch
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To wince; to shrink; to kick with impatience or uneasiness.
- n. A kick, as of a beast, from impatience or uneasiness.
- n. A crank with a handle, for giving motion to a machine, a grindstone, etc.
- n. An instrument with which to turn or strain something forcibly.
- n. An axle or drum turned by a crank with a handle, or by power, for raising weights, as from the hold of a ship, from mines, etc.; a windlass.
- n. A wince.
WordNet 3.0
- n. lifting device consisting of a horizontal cylinder turned by a crank on which a cable or rope winds
- v. pull or lift up with or as if with a winch
Etymologies
- Middle English winche, pulley, from Old English wince, reel, roller. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“* Disconnect the remote control when the winch is not in use.”
“Reduced to essentials, an electric winch is a motorized drum that unspools and spools a length of heavy-duty wire rope.”
“A winch is an absolute must, a missionary friend of mine uses an atv to hunt and he says he uses his winch almost every time he goes out.”
“With a long remote cord, you can also operate the winch from the cab if necessary.”
“Upon trolling the appropriate courseand in a show of considerable forcewe'll winch from the deepand grab in mid leapa swordfish we can ride like a horse”
“Maybe use a chain winch or hoist that they use in industrial applications whereby almost anyone of any stature can lift a great deal of weight with a pull of a chain and then let it slowly descend to generate electricity!”
“OBAMA '08 (and although she's a habitual liar I'll vote for Hillary if the winch is in the general ...”
“W'y, Miss," answered Jack Molloy, who chanced to be sitting on a spare yard close at hand working a Turk's head on a manrope, "that's the steam-winch, that is the thing wot we uses w'en we wants to hoist things out o 'the hold, or lower 'em into it.”
“The mechanical advantage of a winch is the radius of the axle to the radius of the handspikes.”
“Anyone accessing the mountain before or after normal hours must contact the grooming department or call winch cat operations at (970) 547-5627.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘winch’.
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Mundane Transformers
Bore that meets the eye.
potamogeton, testator, scrutator, isolator, confiteor, deflator, qwerty, susceptor, champertor, preemptor, disinfector, infractor and 91 more...
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IMCO - EU nomenclature
includes words of the "Prodcom list"
veal, valve, used, yak, wax, wan, teak, vat, vas, strip, use, strap and 4515 more...
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The Teesdale Angler
Fishing words and phrases from R. Lakeland's 1858 The Teesdale Angler.
View the book online. I've endeavored to make sure that most of the phrases listed call up an accompanying...many a sanguine a..., professors of the..., rattling showers ..., gentles, humble Bee, herling, the contemplative..., old stintings of ..., when fishing up w..., athwart the water, dress a fly by th..., flogging the wate... and 60 more...
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The Sog Collection
My big word list.
chaos, flaccid, empirical, flotsam, cacophony, grumble, assuage, awe, romance, mortality, coalesce, fortuitous and 3282 more...
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Airborn
Words and phrases from Kenneth Oppel's book, Airborn.
running lights, starboard, bow, gondola, bullhorn, rudder man, gas cell, keel, catwalk, stern, cargo bay, machinist and 152 more...
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A Parthian Shot: Archery Words
Just what it says. Archery rocks.
bow, arrow, longbow, crossbow, barebow, recurve, compound bow, flight, arrowhead, nock, feather, yew and 197 more...
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Under The Kilt
Anything related to Scottish culture, cuisine, language, history and so on. Does not include Gaelic words unless acceptable (roughly speaking!) in a wider sense.
brae, machair, loch, burn, inverness, shieling, camanachd, shinty, diddy, bhoy, ghillie, brownie and 393 more...
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Reading Reading
Words from the works of Peter Reading - at least one from each (except the Schwitters-esque erosions, cut-ups etc).
overbright, pimpled, muskiness, effuse, stoup, maul, unlevel, viscid, perfidious, glibly, aloes, drouth and 449 more...
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sionnach's Words
contumely, fomite, holmgang, poltroon, eleemosynary, obsidian, nugatory, grindcore, felch, recrudescent, pyx, parenteral and 3271 more...
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ifjuly's list
favorite words. some are made up injokes between me and my husband or family.
skein, zaftig, july, bed, orifice, aesthete, ink, parce-que, desormais, cake, pusillanimous, pulse and 531 more...
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The Golem's Eye
Words and phrases from Jonathan Stroud's book, The Golem's Eye.
ordure, widdershins, cop, stipple, ostler, struts, minaret, chemise, remonstrate, concussion, wicket, vamoose and 249 more...
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and Bristol fashion
being items related to boats, ships, sailing, nautical and naval lore &c.
sloop, frigate, brigantine, brig, grog, schooner, rig, sail, canvas, jib, forestay, cutter and 150 more...
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Just 'cause I like 'em, W
washboard, winterbourne, winze, wirble, waterway, windrow, winceyette, waft, whiffletree, wheelbarrow, whicker, wacky and 170 more...
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zvijo's Words
montebank, juggernaut, indigo, abeyance, paramour, bacchanal, vixen, limpet, raze, ouagadougou, ceylon, occident and 42 more...
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sailing
ballast, beam, boom, bow, bowsprit, bridge, buoy, chart, cockpit, current, davits, deck and 86 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for winch.
yarb The Mammuthus, winched from the permafrost...
- Peter Reading, Finds, from Diplopic, 1983 Jun 30, 2008
bilby Scots - to be romantically involved with someone; to kiss and cuddle. Possibly derived from wench. Dec 25, 2007