wind down

present singular third person winds down · participle present winding down · participle past wound down · past wound down

1. idiomatictransitiveTo lower by winding, as with a crank or windlass.

   Wind down the car window if you want to talk to me.

   Synonyms: roll down, lower · Antonyms: wind up, roll up, raise

2. idiomatictransitiveTo unwind.

   You'd better wind down that wind-up toy before you take it apart, or pieces might go flying.

   Synonyms: unwind, deactivate · Antonyms: wind, wind up, activate

3. idiomatictransitiveTo shut down slowly (by degrees or in phases).

   A program as complex as the Space Shuttle program takes some time to wind down.

   1 more example

   As a result, Bowman admitted, Sellafield’s scientists are having to invent, mid-marathon, the process of winding the site down – and they’re finding that they still don’t know enough about it.

   December 15 2022, Samanth Subramanian, “Dismantling Sellafield: the epic task of shutting down a nuclear site”, in The Guardian

   Synonyms: unwind, shut down · Antonyms: activate, fire up, power up, start up, boot up

4. idiomaticintransitiveTo slow, as if coming to an end; to become calmer or less busy.

   The festival seems to be winding down now.

   1 more example

   As the bar event started to wind down past midnight, Ryan and a group of friends walked over to an after-hours house party at a residence on Burfield Drive, parallel to the major ski resorts.

   2026 August 18, Nicholas Muhoro, “Ryan Shtuka, 20, Vanished After Leaving a House Party at a Ski Resort in 2018. His Walk Home Was Only 300 Metres”, in Skip Boring, archived from the original on 18 Aug 2026

   Synonyms: taper off

5. idiomaticintransitiveTo relax; to get rid of stress; to destress.

   After a long day at work, she winds down by kickboxing.

   Synonyms: calm down, unwind, chill out, let off steam · Antonyms: power up