windup

noun wind·up \ ˈwīnd-ˌəp \

|Updated on: 5 Jul 2018

Definition of windup

1 a : the act of bringing to an end

b : a concluding act or part : finish

2 a : 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)

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Examples of windup in a Sentence

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.

Recent Examples of windup from the Web

Reus stopped the ball and stepped back as Kroos took his full windup and curled a shot that went over two defenders, around goalkeeper Robin Olsen and then inside the right post.

— andrew das, New York Times, "Germany’s World Cup Is Saved in the Blink of an Eye (and Flick of a Foot)," 24 June 2018
Everything out of the stretch and out of the windup feels solid.

— nick piecoro, azcentral, "Arizona Diamondbacks' Shelby Miller set to make return from elbow surgery," 21 June 2018
Pitching from the stretch position would limit the amount of movement Chatwood generates from a full windup, which makes him susceptible to mechanical flaws.

— mark gonzales, chicagotribune.com, "Cubs considering having Tyler Chatwood pitch exclusively from stretch position," 28 May 2018
This is a long windup to let classic country fans know that one of the most influential warblers in the history of country music now has a music festival in his honor.

— andrew dansby, Houston Chronicle, "Corsicana creates a Lefty Frizzell festival," 23 May 2018
Whether in the windup or the stretch, there aren’t very many moving parts.

— michael beller, SI.com, "The Braves Should Consider Keeping Mike Soroka in the Rotation," 3 May 2018
By contrast, most of the family-courting stage versions of animated films that have ruled the theater district for so long look as stiff and artificial as parades of windup toys.

— abby jones, Billboard, "'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child' Broadway Reviews: What the Critics Are Saying," 23 Apr. 2018
Koufax, feet together, now to his windup and the one-two pitch: fastball outside, ball two.

— houston mitchell, latimes.com, "Dodgers Dugout: The 25 greatest Dodgers of all time, No. 3: Vin Scully," 27 Mar. 2018
Darnold, who played baseball in high school and also golfs, compared the tightening of his throwing motion to becoming more efficient in the swinging windups from those other sports.

— lorenzo reyes, USA TODAY, "Sam Darnold used smart football's data to learn key lesson on throwing motion," 23 Apr. 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.

First Known Use of windup

1665

in the meaning defined at sense 1a

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windup Synonyms

windup

adjective

Definition of windup

: operated by a spring mechanism wound by hand

See windup defined for English-language learners

Examples of windup in a Sentence

She has an old windup record player in her attic.

First Known Use of windup

1784

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year

NEW! Time Traveler

wind up

verb

Definition of wind up

transitive verb

1 : to bring to a conclusion : end

2 a : 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

1 a : 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

See wind up defined for kids

Examples of wind up in a Sentence

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

Recent Examples of wind up from the Web

Ground beef makes up 64% of all beef currently sold in the U.S., according to data compiled by the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, and more than one-fifth of all beef eaten at home winds up between hamburger buns.

— jacob bunge, WSJ, "Chicken, Turkey and Tuna Have a Beef With Your Burger," 30 June 2018
But here is the best reason to hope James winds up a Laker.

— greg cote, miamiherald, "LeBron James has only 1 choice if he wants to meet the challenge of his legacy head-on," 30 June 2018
The survivors, who have proven their mettle as hardy stock, wind up less likely to die with each passing year.

— meghana keshavan, STAT, "The age plateau: New study suggests, at certain age, risk of death no longer increases," 28 June 2018
One of the two rivals could very well finish with the second-best record in all of baseball and wind up fighting for its season in a do-or-die matchup against a team with a much lesser resume.

— alex putterman, The Atlantic, "The Yankees–Red Sox Rivalry Is Back in Full Force," 28 June 2018
Prestige says Ticketmaster's abuse of its market position extends to secondary ticket exchanges and that its adversary provides no transparency to consumers about how and why tickets wind up on one or another exchange.

— eriq gardner, The Hollywood Reporter, "Ticketmaster Secretly Provides Scalpers With Bot Software, Brokers Claim," 27 June 2018
Essentially, some survivability enhancements needed to counter threats in Iraq wound up maxing the Bradley’s weight and on-power capacity.

— kris osborn, Fox News, "Army makes massive Bradley buy - up to 473 vehicles to prep for major power war," 27 June 2018
In Utah, Mitt Romney is back, and in New York, a felon could wind up in Congress.

— morning brief, The Seattle Times, "WSU quarterback Hilinski had CTE; travel ban upheld | Tuesday Morning Brief, June 26," 26 June 2018
But when events force Cage to shift gears from entertainer to bodyguard, he and Piranha wind up sharing an intimate moment where Piranha talks about rising to wealth in spite of his familial challenges.

— samantha nelson, The Verge, "Luke Cage is the first Netflix MCU show with a strong season 2," 22 June 2018

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

First Known Use of wind up

1583

in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

See Words from the same year

NEW! Time Traveler

wind up Synonyms

Synonyms

break off, break up, cease, close, conclude, dead-end, determine, die, discontinue, elapse, end, expire, finish, go, halt, lapse, leave off, let up, pass, quit, stop, terminate, wink (out);

Antonyms

continue, hang on, persist;

Near Antonyms

draw out, extend, prolong, protract;

knock off, pack (up or in);

break down, conk (out), cut out, stall;

pause, stay, suspend;

abate, peter (out), wind down;

Phrases

bite the dust;

WINDUP Defined for English Language Learners

windup

noun

Definition of windup for English Language Learners

: 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
wind-up : something done or said in usually a joking way to make someone annoyed or upset