Antonyms for wind up

Grammar : Verb

Spell : wahynd-uhp

Phonetic Transcription : ˈwaɪndˌʌp

Definition of wind up

Origin : "air in motion," Old English wind, from Proto-Germanic *wendas (cf. Old Saxon, Old Frisian, Middle Dutch, Dutch wind, Old Norse vindr, Old High German wind, German Wind, Gothic winds), from PIE *we-nt-o- "blowing," from root *we- "to blow" (cf. Sanskrit va-, Greek aemi-, Gothic waian, Old English wawan, Old High German wajan, German wehen, Old Church Slavonic vejati "to blow;" Sanskrit vatah, Avestan vata-, Hittite huwantis, Latin ventus, Old Church Slavonic vetru, Lithuanian vejas "wind;" Lithuanian vetra "tempest, storm;" Old Irish feth "air;" Welsh gwynt, Breton gwent "wind").
Normal pronunciation evolution made this word rhyme with kind and rind (Donne rhymes it with mind), but it shifted to a short vowel 18c., probably from influence of windy, where the short vowel is natural. A sad loss for poets, who now must rhyme it only with sinned and a handful of weak words. Symbolic of emptiness and vanity since late 13c.
I have forgot much, Cynara! gone with the wind. [Ernest Dowson, 1896]
Meaning "breath" is attested from late Old English; especially "breath in speaking" (early 14c.), so long-winded, also "easy or regular breathing" (early 14c.), hence second wind in the figurative sense (by 1830), an image from the sport of hunting.
Figurative phrase which way the wind blows for "the current state of affairs" is suggested from c.1400. To get wind of "receive information about" is by 1809, perhaps inspired by French avoir le vent de. To take the wind out of (one's) sails in the figurative sense (by 1883) is an image from sailing, where a ship without wind can make no progress. Wind-chill index is recorded from 1939. Wind energy from 1976. Wind vane from 1725.

verb finish

Example sentences :

I must wind up my affairs, and Margaret cannot go with you alone.
Extract from : « Fair Margaret » by H. Rider Haggard

At the worst, we are as like to wind up upon a scaffold as not.'
Extract from : « Micah Clarke » by Arthur Conan Doyle

Do you suppose it was by accident, I forgot to wind up the church-clock?
Extract from : « Barnaby Rudge » by Charles Dickens

Don't let the Mater and Pater get the wind up about my personal safety.
Extract from : « War Letters of a Public-School Boy » by Paul Jones.

Can't you get some of your slush-slingers to wind up a few of them ashes?
Extract from : « Typhoon » by Joseph Conrad

He did, Jim, and threw me through the window to wind up with.
Extract from : « The Spoilers of the Valley » by Robert Watson

I ought to wind up this search in two days, if my boat is still on the lake.
Extract from : « Tom Swift and his Motor-boat » by Victor Appleton

Of this also I shall be able to tell you more before I wind up.
Extract from : « Letters of Edward FitzGerald » by Edward FitzGerald

Don't you think you might wind up the trick now, and let them in?
Extract from : « Jack of Both Sides » by Florence Coombe

I've been in such a wind up here one could hardly keep his feet.
Extract from : « Dave Porter in the Gold Fields » by Edward Stratemeyer

Synonyms for wind up

Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019