Illustration of windmill
- windmill 1a
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
windmilled; windmilling; windmills
: to cause to move like a windmill
: to move like a windmill
especially
: to spin from the force of wind
Examples of windmill in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Jessica Benavides Canepa, AFAR Media, 4 June 2025
Trump backed away, softened the tone of his relationship with Fed Chair Powell and moved on to tilt with other windmills.
—Bruce Yandle, Twin Cities, 3 June 2025
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
See All Example Sentences for windmill
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Noun
Castilla-La Mancha, a two-hour drive from Madrid, evokes the castles and windmills of Don Quixote.
—Jessica Benavides Canepa, AFAR Media, 4 June 2025
Trump backed away, softened the tone of his relationship with Fed Chair Powell and moved on to tilt with other windmills.
—Bruce Yandle, Twin Cities, 3 June 2025
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
See All Example Sentences for windmill
Cite this Entry
“Windmill.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/windmill. Accessed 13 Jun. 2025.
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