wind-up


Also found in: Thesaurus, Medical, Legal, Idioms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.

wind-up

or wind·up (wīnd′ŭp′)
n.
1.
a. The act of bringing something to an end.
b. A concluding part; a conclusion.
2. Baseball The series of movements of a pitcher, including the swinging back of the arm and the raising of the forward foot, preparatory to pitching the ball. A wind-up is usually used when there are no base runners or when the bases are loaded.
adj.
Operated by a spring that is wound up by hand.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

wind-up

noun (Informal) joke, gag (informal), lark, prank, jest, practical joke At first I didn't believe it and thought it was a wind-up by one of my mates.
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

wind-up

or windup
noun
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations

wind-up

[ˈwaɪndʌp] N
1. (Brit) (= joke) → tomadura f de pelo
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

wind-up

n
(US) = winding-up
(Brit inf: = joke) → Witz m
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007
References in periodicals archive ?
Warwick, RI, August 27, 2017 --(PR.com)-- Altered Reality Entertainment, in partnership with Schylling Toys, is excited to announce the 2017 exclusive action figure—a three-character collection of classic tin wind-up toys from the Star Wars galaxy.
This nifty little gadget from QVC is a wind-up torch that also charges your phone.
"We were armed with a pile of our classic wind-up calls, many of which see their first outing on this CD."
* The girl who provided by far the most wind-up mileage was a lady called Julie Graham.
Radio watchdogs warned stations about the dangers of "wind-up" calls after they fell victim to a prankster DJ.
Metro Radio breakfast presenter Tony Horne is topping the album charts after his wind-up CD achieved record sales in Asda stores.
The CD, in fact, is called 14 Of The Most Outrageous Wind-Ups and features some of the star listeners of his 8.10am Wind-Up slot on the Tony Horne In The Morning show.
A TOP sports psychologist last night said it was possible a wind-up won the Old Firm game for Celtic - but only self-help can get them the title back from Rangers.
Memo to ITV: For your next wind-up why not send David Beckham to a tanning salon and get a sexy young thing to come on to him?
"I broke the news to everyone then found out it was a wind-up so wasn't sure if the game was on or off when the real call came in."