windmill
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windmill
- /ˈwɪn(d).mɪl/ UK, US
Where it comes from
From Middle English wyndmylne, wyndmylle, equivalent to wind + mill. Cognate with Scots wyndmyln, wyndmyl, Saterland Frisian Wíendmäälne, West Frisian wynmûne, Dutch windmolen, Afrikaans windmeul, Dutch Low Saxon windmölle (Achterhooks), wiendmeule (Drents, Veluws), German Low German Windmöhl, German Windmühle, Danish vindmølle, Norwegian Bokmål vindmølle, Norwegian Nynorsk vindmølle, vindmylne, Swedish vindmölla, Icelandic vindmylla.
(imaginary enemy): A reference to Don Quixote tilting at windmills.
noun windmills
- A machine which translates linear motion of wind to rotational motion by means of adjustable vanes called sails. Turbines have been around for a long time—windmills and water wheels are early examples. The name comes from the Latin turbo, meaning vortex, and thus the defining property of a turbine is that a fluid or gas turns the blades of a rotor, which is attached to a shaft that can perform useful work.
- The building or structure containing such machinery. There was once a windmill and a baker's shop in the middle of Rabbitland. Three rabbits, Rodney, Rudolph and Rosie lived in the windmill.
- A wind turbine, a device for converting wind power into electricity. “I never understood wind. You know, I know windmills very much. They’re noisy. They kill the birds. You want to see a bird graveyard? Go under a windmill someday. You’ll see more birds than you’ve ever seen in your life.”
-
A child's toy consisting of vanes mounted on a stick that rotate when blown by a person or by the wind.
Similar: hand windmill, pinwheel
- A dunk where the dunker swings his arm in a circular motion before throwing the ball through the hoop.
- A pitch where the pitcher swings his arm in a circular motion before throwing the ball.
- A guitar move where the strumming hand mimics a turning windmill.
- A breakdancing move in which the dancer rolls their torso continuously in a circular path on the floor, across the upper chest, shoulders and back, while twirling the legs in a V shape in the air.
- Any of various muscle exercises in which a large deal of the body makes a great circle, typically one where a kettlebell is raised overhead and the torso is rotated to the other side with the hand reaching its foot (hitting the core, glutes, hamstrings, trapezius, rhomboids, deltoids and rotator cuffs) but sometimes even a windshield wiper.
- Any of various large papilionid butterflies of the genus Byasa, the wings of which resemble the vanes of a windmill.
- The false shower.
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An imaginary enemy, but presented as real.
to fight windmills
Similar: straw man
- The act of windmilling.
-
A tactic in which a piece repeatedly gains material, while simultaneously creating an inescapable series of alternating direct and discovered checks.
Similar: seesaw, Zwickmühle
verb windmills · windmilling · windmilled
- To rotate with a sweeping motion. She ran down the hill, windmilling her arms with glee.
- To (become disengaged and) rotate freely. The axle broke and the wheel windmilled in place briefly before careening through the wall.
- To be rotated by the force of the fluid passing through (the propeller or turbine rotor). The stern dropped just as the captain began to get his control room crew to react to orders again. His head struck an instrument console. What slim hopes his crew had died with him. The Politovskiy was falling backwards, her propeller windmilling the wrong way as she slid to the bottom of the sea.
- To move in order to rotate the penis in a circle (similar to the rotation of a windmill).
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: wind generator, aerogenerator, turbine, sawmill, mill, wind, eolian, built-in, wind mill, wind-mill, windsail, windwheel, fantail, vane, aeromotor, wind engine
Translations
Every language
noun machine
| Español | molino de viento |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 풍차 pungcha |
| 日本語 | 風車 fūsha |
| 中文 | 風車 /风车 fēngchē |
| हिन्दी | पवनचक्की pavancakkī |
| Português | moinho de vento |
| Français | moulin à vent |
| Deutsch | Windmühle |
| Italiano | mulino a vento |
| Ελληνικά | ανεμόμυλος anemómylos |
| Română | moară de vânt |
| Русский | ветряна́я ме́льница vetrjanája mélʹnica |
| Tiếng Việt | cối xay gió |
| العربية | طاحونة هوائية |
| עברית | טַחֲנַת רוּחַ takhanát rúakh |
noun structure
| Español | molino de viento |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | 風車小屋 fūshagoya |
| Português | moinho de vento |
| Français | moulin à vent |
| Deutsch | Windmühle |
| Italiano | mulino a vento |
| Ελληνικά | ανεμόμυλος anemómylos |
| Română | moară de vânt |
| Русский | ветряна́я ме́льница vetrjanája mélʹnica |
| עברית | טַחֲנַת רוּחַ takhanat ruakh |
noun child's toy
| Español | molinillo de viento |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | 風車 kazaguruma |
| Português | cata-vento |
| Deutsch | Windrad |
| Italiano | girandola |
| Русский | верту́шка vertúška |
noun basketball: type of dunk
| 日本語 | ウインドミル uindomiru |
|---|
noun guitar move
| 日本語 | 風車奏法 fūsha sōhō |
|---|
Talk about this word "windmill." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/windmill. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. windmill. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/windmill "windmill." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/windmill.Cite this
@misc{windmill_2026,
title = {windmill},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/windmill},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
