windup

noun

wind·up | \ ˈwīnd-ˌəp

Definition of windup

(Entry 1 of 3)

1a : the act of bringing to an end

b : a concluding act or part : finish

2a : a series of regular and distinctive motions (such as swinging the arms) made by a pitcher preparatory to releasing a pitch

b : an exaggerated backswing (as in tennis)

windup

adjective

Definition of windup (Entry 2 of 3)

: operated by a spring mechanism wound by hand

wind up

verb

wound up also winded up; winding up; winds up

Definition of wind up (Entry 3 of 3)

transitive verb

1 : to bring to a conclusion : end

2a : to put in order for the purpose of bringing to an end winds up the meeting

b British : to effectuate the winding up of

intransitive verb

1a : to come to a conclusion

b : to arrive in a place, situation, or condition at the end or as a result of a course of action wound up as millionaires

2 : to make a pitching windup

Synonyms & Antonyms More Example Sentences Learn More about windup

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Examples of windup in a Sentence

Noun

the windup of the negotiations He went into the windup, then threw the pitch. a pitcher with an unusual windup Her brother's act was just a wind-up to get her angry.

Adjective

She has an old windup record player in her attic.

Verb

try to wind up the performance, as we're almost out of time her speeches usually wind up with one last joke

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

Using a side windup, Army veteran Frank Anderson threw a strike to Redbirds manager Stubby Clapp. — Charlotte Carroll, SI.com, "WATCH: 104-year-old World War II Veteran Throws Out First Pitch at Memphis Redbirds Game," 5 July 2018 Vail threw every pitch of the final four innings out of the windup Sunday in leading Gloucester Catholic to a 5-2 victory over St. Augustine in the Coaches vs. Cancer showcase. — Phil Anastasia, Philly.com, "Pitcher Andrew Vail powers Gloucester Catholic past St. Augustine," 29 Apr. 2018 Taillon had a relatively traditional windup the first two years of his career, but this season starts with his feet parallel to the rubber before taking a short step backward with his left foot and going into his delivery. — Michael Beller, SI.com, "How the Pirates' Jameson Taillon Reached His Ace Potential Without Changing a Thing," 25 Apr. 2018 The sculptor will capture Hoffman mid-windup, complete with the right-hander’s familiar high leg kick. — Dennis Lin, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Padres to unveil Trevor Hoffman statue at Petco Park this summer," 26 Jan. 2018 The motion on McEnroe’s serve is still the same — the slow windup, the left-handed delivery. — Kurt Streeter, New York Times, "Cheering John McEnroe in Paris Never Gets Old," 9 June 2018 For another, there’s his delivery, which features a hands-over-the-head windup that feels just as old-fashioned as the mustache. — Si.com Staff, SI.com, "Nine Innings: The Indians' Surprisingly Bad Bullpen, the State of the NL West and Culberson's Magic," 4 June 2018 Three times, Ensberg bluffed down the line with Gillespie timing the pitcher's windup, measuring Ensberg's jumps. — Mike Digiovanna, latimes.com, "For retiring baseball coach Mike Gillespie, it's been a career filled with guts and glory," 18 May 2018 Sandy into his windup and the pitch, a fastball for a strike. — Houston Mitchell, latimes.com, "Dodgers Dugout: The 25 greatest Dodgers of all time, No. 3: Vin Scully," 27 Mar. 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

The really clever bit is this: When the seat is swiveled and locked into position, that action winds up a spring attached to the seat's belts. — Alexander Stoklosa, Car and Driver, "Mercedes-Benz's Car Seat Prototype Will Make Children Safer," 21 May 2019 Rogers may wind up wearing glitzy Rodarte to her next gig or maybe a vintage velvet blazer. — Brooke Bobb, Vogue, "Maggie Rogers’s Personal Style Is a Mix of a “Space Cowgirl and San Francisco Art Teacher”—She Tells Us Why," 18 Mar. 2019 In fact, Couturier may wind up the only Flyer to crack even 25 goals. — Geoff Baker, The Seattle Times, "Former Everett Silvertips goalie Carter Hart putting on one-man show to keep Philadelphia Flyers in playoff hunt," 11 Feb. 2019 Spitballing off how the GeForce RTX 2080 and 2080 Ti compare to their predecessors, the GeForce RTX 2070 might wind up matching the performance of the GTX 1080 in traditional games. — Brad Chacos, PCWorld, "Nvidia's GeForce RTX 2070 launches on October 17. Will ray traced games be ready?," 25 Sep. 2018 The purpose here is to reveal the medical information not only to first responders, but also with hospitals and health systems that the patient may eventually wind up at. — Sy Mukherjee, Fortune, "Walmart Just Scored a Patent for a Blockchain-Based Health Care Records System," 22 June 2018 But Florida has no income tax, and the move may wind up saving Tepper's hedge fund hundreds of millions of dollars a year, experts have said. — Katherine Peralta, charlotteobserver, "David Tepper's deal to buy the Panthers has a multimillion-dollar silver lining," 1 June 2018 But your online options may wind up being surprisingly sparse. — Brian Barrett, WIRED, "The Sports Betting Revolution Will Be Muted Online," 15 May 2018 Further Reading Red Dead Redemption II review: Getting muddy in the wide-open frontier This bundle may wind up being even more in-demand, though. — Jeff Dunn, Ars Technica, "Dealmaster: A PS4 and Red Dead Redemption 2 for $199 may be the best deal of Cyber Monday [Updated]," 26 Nov. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'windup.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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The first known use of windup was in 1583

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More Definitions for windup

windup

noun

English Language Learners Definition of windup

(Entry 1 of 2)

: the things that are done at the end of something (such as an event or process) : the final part of something

baseball : the movements that a pitcher makes before the ball is thrown

British, informal : something done or said in usually a joking way to make someone annoyed or upset

windup

adjective

English Language Learners Definition of windup (Entry 2 of 2)

: having a motor that is given power when someone turns a handle

windup

noun

wind·up | \ ˈwīnd-ˌəp

Kids Definition of windup

1 : the last part of something : finish

2 : a swing of a baseball pitcher's arm before the pitch is thrown

wind up

transitive verb

wound up; winding up

Legal Definition of wind up

: to bring to an end by taking care of unfinished business ordered to wind up his practice specifically : to conclude by removing liabilities and distributing any remaining assets to partners or shareholders wind up the business and affairs of a corporation in dissolution wind up a receivership