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)
: operated by a spring mechanism wound by hand
wound up also winded up; winding up; winds up
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
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
Synonyms
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
Miami Staff, Miami Herald, 30 Jan. 2024
Mueller used former Giants ace Tim Lincecum as an example of a windup that puts the pitcher’s body at risk.
—Danny Emerman, The Mercury News, 17 Feb. 2024
Clever as all that is, the windup has problems, as is true for many new shows finding their final shape.
—Jesse Green, New York Times, 22 Oct. 2023
Into his windup and the two-one pitch to Kuenn: swung on and missed, strike two.
—Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 10 Oct. 2023
Koufax, feet together, now to his windup and the one-two pitch: fastball outside, ball two.
—Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 10 Oct. 2023
After a mound meeting with Heim, athletic trainer Matt Lucero, pitching coach Mike Maddux and Bochy, Scherzer attempted to take a warmup pitch, but stopped in mid windup.
—Evan Grant, Dallas News, 13 Sep. 2023
Music blasts through the speakers continuously, not stopping even for the pitcher’s windup.
—Emma Healy, BostonGlobe.com, 18 Aug. 2023
Anderson pitched free and easy out of the windup for most of his eight innings, striking out four and allowing just four hits and a walk on 94 pitches.
—Joe Noga, cleveland, 9 Sep. 2023
WIRED, 17 Nov. 2023
At the moment, though, Tom Cruise is running in a straight line down the middle of a long air-terminal rooftop, pumping his arms like a windup toy.
—Tom Gliatto, Peoplemag, 5 July 2023
Say goodbye to Rooster Teeth’s longstanding rebus-style logo of the rooster and the windup chattering teeth.
—Todd Spangler, Variety, 22 Mar. 2023
She is perched on a wooden chair on stage as the audience finds their seats, shuttled around like a slow-moving windup car on a child’s racetrack.
—Chloe Schama, Vogue, 10 Mar. 2023
The nickname of Dune’s younger brother, David, came from a windup grandfather clock in the house.
—John Kelly, Washington Post, 4 Dec. 2022
Stephanie Colombini, NPR, 18 Apr. 2024
To split the difference, Riva dumped non-essential components that added weight, such as the mahogany transom, but kept everything else the same, winding up with a top speed of 40 knots with a 25-mile range and a cruising speed of 25 knots.
—J. George Gorant, Robb Report, 17 Apr. 2024
Brown wound up with a game-high 109 receiving yards on five catches.
—Tom Murphy, arkansasonline.com, 14 Apr. 2024
One man confirmed anew that a Black Icarus stands a reasonable chance of winding up Bigger Thomas.
—Wesley Morris, New York Times, 12 Apr. 2024
The two, who share 13-year-old daughter Bryn Hoppy, wound up splitting in 2012.
—Dave Quinn, Peoplemag, 12 Apr. 2024
In the third and most recent film, Zellweger’s Bridget entertains a new romance with American Jack Qwant (Patrick Dempsey), and winds up in yet another love triangle — this time with Jack and Mark, the potential fathers of her baby.
—Alexandra Del Rosario, Los Angeles Times, 10 Apr. 2024
This means the millions of earbuds from Apple, Samsung, JBL, and other companies will eventually wind up in a landfill as people opt to replace them rather than go through an arduous DIY repair process.
—Emma Roth, The Verge, 9 Apr. 2024
Parts of Massachusetts on Thursday faced winds up to 60 mph.
—Emily Mae Czachor, CBS News, 5 Apr. 2024
Noun
This is merely director Carlos Saldanha’s sometimes sluggish windup.
—Miami Staff, Miami Herald, 30 Jan. 2024
Mueller used former Giants ace Tim Lincecum as an example of a windup that puts the pitcher’s body at risk.
—Danny Emerman, The Mercury News, 17 Feb. 2024
Clever as all that is, the windup has problems, as is true for many new shows finding their final shape.
—Jesse Green, New York Times, 22 Oct. 2023
Into his windup and the two-one pitch to Kuenn: swung on and missed, strike two.
—Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 10 Oct. 2023
Koufax, feet together, now to his windup and the one-two pitch: fastball outside, ball two.
—Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 10 Oct. 2023
After a mound meeting with Heim, athletic trainer Matt Lucero, pitching coach Mike Maddux and Bochy, Scherzer attempted to take a warmup pitch, but stopped in mid windup.
—Evan Grant, Dallas News, 13 Sep. 2023
Music blasts through the speakers continuously, not stopping even for the pitcher’s windup.
—Emma Healy, BostonGlobe.com, 18 Aug. 2023
Anderson pitched free and easy out of the windup for most of his eight innings, striking out four and allowing just four hits and a walk on 94 pitches.
—Joe Noga, cleveland, 9 Sep. 2023
Adjective
First captured in a painting in 1899, Nipper is the dog in the old RCA logo, the one listening to a windup cylinder phonograph.
—WIRED, 17 Nov. 2023
At the moment, though, Tom Cruise is running in a straight line down the middle of a long air-terminal rooftop, pumping his arms like a windup toy.
—Tom Gliatto, Peoplemag, 5 July 2023
Say goodbye to Rooster Teeth’s longstanding rebus-style logo of the rooster and the windup chattering teeth.
—Todd Spangler, Variety, 22 Mar. 2023
She is perched on a wooden chair on stage as the audience finds their seats, shuttled around like a slow-moving windup car on a child’s racetrack.
—Chloe Schama, Vogue, 10 Mar. 2023
The nickname of Dune’s younger brother, David, came from a windup grandfather clock in the house.
—John Kelly, Washington Post, 4 Dec. 2022
Verb
But even unintentional gunshots can wind up being deadly, Snyder warned.
—Stephanie Colombini, NPR, 18 Apr. 2024
To split the difference, Riva dumped non-essential components that added weight, such as the mahogany transom, but kept everything else the same, winding up with a top speed of 40 knots with a 25-mile range and a cruising speed of 25 knots.
—J. George Gorant, Robb Report, 17 Apr. 2024
Brown wound up with a game-high 109 receiving yards on five catches.
—Tom Murphy, arkansasonline.com, 14 Apr. 2024
One man confirmed anew that a Black Icarus stands a reasonable chance of winding up Bigger Thomas.
—Wesley Morris, New York Times, 12 Apr. 2024
The two, who share 13-year-old daughter Bryn Hoppy, wound up splitting in 2012.
—Dave Quinn, Peoplemag, 12 Apr. 2024
In the third and most recent film, Zellweger’s Bridget entertains a new romance with American Jack Qwant (Patrick Dempsey), and winds up in yet another love triangle — this time with Jack and Mark, the potential fathers of her baby.
—Alexandra Del Rosario, Los Angeles Times, 10 Apr. 2024
This means the millions of earbuds from Apple, Samsung, JBL, and other companies will eventually wind up in a landfill as people opt to replace them rather than go through an arduous DIY repair process.
—Emma Roth, The Verge, 9 Apr. 2024
Parts of Massachusetts on Thursday faced winds up to 60 mph.
—Emily Mae Czachor, CBS News, 5 Apr. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'windup.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near windup
Cite this Entry
“Windup.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/windup. Accessed 25 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
windup
2 of 3 adjective
: having a spring wound by hand
windup toys
wind up
3 of 3 verb(ˈ)wīn-ˈdəp
1
: to bring or come to a conclusion : end
let's wind up the meeting quickly
2
: to arrive in a place, situation, or state
wound up losing the game
wound up as millionaires
3
: to make a windup in pitching a baseball
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