Meanings
winder1
plural winders
- A winding plant.
Two types of leguminous crops combine most of the above mentioned favourable characteristics, the vines (creepers or winders, fig. 23) and the bushes (fig. 22).
1984, J. G. Ohler, K. H. Reichelderfer, Gerald A. Carlson, Economic Guidelines for Crop Pest Control, volumes 57-60, page 165 - businessThe person who operates such an engine.
- One of the steps of a spiral staircase (as opposed to a flyer, or straight step).
winder2
plural winders
- slangA blow that winds somebody, or takes away their breath.
"Well!" exclaimed the miner. "That's a winder." He considered it a moment, said "H'm!" and proceeded with his dinner. Suddenly his face contracted with wrath. "I hope he may never set foot i' my house again," he said.
1913, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, “chapter 8”, in Sons and Lovers, London: Duckworth & Co. […], →OCLC
winder3
present singular third person winders · participle present windering · participle past windered · past windered
- To fan; to clean grain with a fan.
winder4
plural winders
- pronunciation spellingPronunciation spelling of window.
That accounts for my having the dress, but it don't account for the piece that you left sticking to the rose-bush under Mrs. Lander's bed-room winder, which piece I took off that morning, and which piece I matched with the dress after you pitched it at me over them bannisters […]
1868, Ann Sophia Stephens, Doubly False1 more example
Don’t be so darn foolish. It’s the calm afore the storm, Winslow. She were a gentle westerly wind yer cursin’. Only feels roughly ‘cause you don’t know nothin’ bout nothin’ and there ain’t no trees on this here rock like your Hudson Bay bush. Nor’Easterly wind’ll come soon a-blowin’ like Gabriel’s horn. Best board up them signal house winders.
2019, Robert Eggers, Max Eggers, The Lighthouse (motion picture), spoken by Thomas Wake (Willem Dafoe)
Winder5
plural Winders · alternative Wynder
- countableA surname originating as an occupation.
- A placename, from the surname:
- countableuncountableA city, the county seat of Barrow County, Georgia, United States.
- countableuncountableAn unincorporated community in Franklin County, Idaho, United States.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA key or knob for winding a clock, watch or clockwork mechanism
More synonyms by meaning
nounmechanical device used to wind another device that is driven by a spring (as a clock)
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
winder · noun
- Middle Englishwynder
- Englishwinder
From Middle English wynder; equivalent to wind + -er.
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →winder · noun
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂weh₁-
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂wḗh₁ti
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂wéh₁n̥ts
- Proto-Germanic*windaz
- Proto-West Germanic*wind
- Old Englishwind
- Middle Englishwynd
- Englishwind
- Englishwinder
Winder · proper noun
From winder, an occupational surname for a winder of wool.
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with winder
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
winder. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/winder
“winder.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/winder. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “winder,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/winder.
Source: winder on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.