windmill

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noun

wind·​mill ˈwin(d)-ˌmil 

1

a

: a mill or machine operated by the wind usually acting on oblique vanes or sails that radiate from a horizontal shaft

especially : a wind-driven water pump or electric generator

b

: the wind-driven wheel of a windmill

2

: something that resembles or suggests a windmill

especially : a calisthenic exercise that involves alternately lowering each outstretched hand to touch the toes of the opposite foot

3

[from the episode in Don Quixote by Cervantes in which the hero attacks windmills under the illusion that they are giants] : an imaginary wrong, evil, or opponent

—usually used in the phrase to tilt at windmills

Illustration of windmill

• windmill 1a

windmill

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verb

windmilled; windmilling; windmills

transitive verb

: to cause to move like a windmill

intransitive verb

: to move like a windmill

especially : to spin from the force of wind

Examples of windmill in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Fishermen catch fish against a backdrop of windmills in Thoothukudi in India's Tamil Nadu state on September 9, 2026. — Priyanka Salve, CNBC, 22 Sep. 2026

Shaquille O’Neal first messaged Mac McClung a decade ago, when McClung was a seventeen-year-old living in Gate City, Virginia, scoring sixty points in a game and doing reverse-windmill dunks over future accountants and insurance adjusters. — Charles Bethea, New Yorker, 21 Sep. 2026

Verb

All the same, Antonoff wears muscle shirts onstage and jumps off stacks of amps and pumps his fist in the air and plays windmill chords on his Gretsch Princess guitar. — Andrew Marantz, The New Yorker, 16 May 2022

The young center fielder stepped out of the batter’s box, grabbing at her shoulder, trying to windmill her arm in tiny circles. — Los Angeles Times, 2 May 2022

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb

1851, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Rhymes for windmill

• anthill
• backfill
• bluegill
• crossbill
• distil
• distill
• downhill
• dunghill
• foothill
• fulfil
• fulfill
• goodwill

Kids Definition

windmill

noun

wind·​mill

ˈwin(d)-ˌmil

: a mill or a machine (as for pumping water) worked by the wind turning sails or vanes at the top of a tower