windlass

[ wind-luhs ]

noun
  1. a device for raising or hauling objects, usually consisting of a horizontal cylinder or barrel turned by a crank, lever, motor, or the like, upon which a cable, rope, or chain winds, the outer end of the cable being attached directly or indirectly to the weight to be raised or the thing to be hauled or pulled; winch.

verb (used with object)
  1. to raise, haul, or move (a load) by means of a windlass.

Origin of windlass

1
1350–1400; Middle English wind(e)las<Old Norse vindāss, equivalent to vinda to wind2 + āss beam

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use windlass in a sentence

  • The fog was so dense that even the lookout posted at her fore windlasses was a hazy figure as seen from the pilot-house.

    Blow The Man Down | Holman Day
  • The same inventor and others have contrived “steam-windlasses,” some of which are in general use on large vessels.

  • These were situated upon a great plain, which was dotted with strong sunburnt men, straining at windlasses.

    Grif | B. L. (Benjamin Leopold) Farjeon
  • He had a frame placed on four wheels, and fitted up with windlasses attached by gearing to the several wheels.

    Lives of the Engineers | Samuel Smiles
  • At the head of each boom is a raft which supports two large windlasses, each of which works an anchor.

British Dictionary definitions for windlass

windlass

/ (ˈwɪndləs) /


noun
  1. a machine for raising weights by winding a rope or chain upon a barrel or drum driven by a crank, motor, etc

verb
  1. (tr) to raise or haul (a weight, etc) by means of a windlass

Origin of windlass

1
C14: from Old Norse vindáss, from vinda to wind ² + ass pole; related to Old French guindas, Middle Low German, Dutch windas

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