wind-up

English

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wind-up

/ˈwaɪndˌʌp/ Canada

Where it comes from

Deverbal from wind up.

noun wind-ups · windup

The end or conclusion of something. Everyone is invited to our end-of-term wind-up party.
The punch line of a joke or comedy routine.
UK A humorous attempt to fool somebody; a practical joke in which the victim is encouraged to believe something untrue. "Is this a wind-up, or what?" "No, no, it's true. He can really do it."
The phase of making a pitch where the pitcher moves his or her arm backwards before throwing the ball. He's into his wind-up. Here comes the pitch. Strike on the inside corner!
A circular hand gesture, supposed to represent the winding on of film, used to signal to a performer to finish quickly.

adjective windup

not comparable Of a machine, requiring winding up in order to function. Maybe you could get a wind-up toy to distract him.

Translations

Every language

noun end or conclusion of something

Deutsch	Zusammenfassung

noun humorous attempt to fool somebody

Deutsch	Streich, Schabernack

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MLA

"wind-up." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/wind-up. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

wind-up. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/wind-up

Chicago

"wind-up." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/wind-up.

BibTeX

@misc{wind_up_2026,
  title = {wind-up},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/wind-up},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}