WINDING

Pronunciation (US):

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does winding mean? 

• WINDING (noun)
  The noun WINDING has 1 sense:

1. the act of winding or twisting

  Familiarity information: WINDING used as a noun is very rare.

• WINDING (adjective)
  The adjective WINDING has 2 senses:

1. marked by repeated turns and bends

2. of a path e.g.

  Familiarity information: WINDING used as an adjective is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• WINDING (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The act of winding or twisting

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

twist; wind; winding

Context example:

he put the key in the old clock and gave it a good wind

Hypernyms ("winding" is a kind of...):

rotary motion; rotation (the act of rotating as if on an axis)

• WINDING (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Marked by repeated turns and bends

Synonyms:

tortuous; twisting; twisty; voluminous; winding

Context example:

had to steer the car down a twisty track

Similar:

crooked (having or marked by bends or angles; not straight or aligned)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Of a path e.g.

Synonyms:

meandering; rambling; wandering; winding

Context example:

a winding country road

Similar:

indirect (not direct in spatial dimension; not leading by a straight line or course to a destination)

 Context examples 

To right and left stretched a broken, irregular line of many-coloured houses winding along either bank as far as I could see.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

After winding along it for more than a mile, they reached their own house.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

The Milky Way, the galaxy we live in, has a barred spiral shape, with arms of stars, gas and dust winding out from a central bar.

(Stars Found Far from Galaxy Center, JPL/NASA)

We went down a winding stone stair, and my companion, striking a match, lit a large lantern which stood on a barrel in the corner.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Guided by a slight clue, I followed the windings of the Rhone, but vainly.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

During that time, the storm exploded through the clouds, eventually winding its way around Saturn.

(Study Explains Saturn's Epic Tantrums, NASA)

Slowly he followed it with his eyes, winding in wide sweeps among the bleak, bare hills, bleaker and barer and lower-lying than any hills he had yet encountered.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

It was a lovely drive, along winding roads rich in the picturesque scenes that delight beauty-loving eyes.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

The approach to the spot at which the tragedy occurred is down a narrow, winding, country lane.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A stable-boy had run out to the horse’s head, and springing down, I followed Holmes up the small, winding gravel-drive which led to the house.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)