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View synonyms for wind up

wind up

/ waɪnd /

verb

  1. to bring to or reach a conclusion

    he wound up the proceedings

  2. tr to tighten the spring of (a clockwork mechanism)
  3. informal.
    tr; usually passive to make nervous, tense, etc; excite

    he was all wound up before the big fight

  4. tr to roll (thread, etc) into a ball
  5. an informal word for liquidate
  6. informal.
    intr to end up (in a specified state)

    you'll wind up without any teeth

  7. tr; usually passive to involve; entangle

    they were wound up in three different scandals

  8. tr to hoist or haul up
  9. slang.
    tr to tease (someone)
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


noun

  1. the act of concluding
  2. the finish; end
  3. slang.
    an act or instance of teasing

    she just thinks it's a big wind-up

“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Example Sentences

For instance: suppose the Republicans wind up with a clear Senate majority on November 4th.

But as it takes away the safety net, their corpses wind up in fishing nets.

I took the opportunity to point out that many of the players in the upcoming slate of games would wind up with brain damage.

The painting is of a human heart set inside a wind-up music box that has a metal rod poking out of the pulmonary artery.

Which is why his efforts to justify his rabid consumption of football wind up feeling so slippery and convoluted.

I understood, Mr. Clifton, that you were the solicitor employed to wind up the affairs of the late Mr. Antony Clifton.

It would have been nice to see Meadows wind up rich, or for Howlet to become mayor of the dome, but what could I do?

"That—that is the wind-up," said the poor Nabob, who could not help laughing, though it was a very piteous and bitter laugh.

In the course of a sermon he will give you three or four perorations, and sometimes wind up without treating you to one.

If the reel is made to wind up 4 ft. of line to each revolution and the sash-cord shaft is 3/4 in.

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