- To take the wind out of one's sails
- Wind Wind (w[i^]nd, in poetry and singing often w[imac]nd;
277), n. [AS. wind; akin to OS., OFries., D., & G. wind, OHG.
wint, Dan. & Sw. vind, Icel. vindr, Goth winds, W. gwynt, L.
ventus, Skr. v[=a]ta (cf. Gr. 'ah`ths a blast, gale, 'ah^nai
to breathe hard, to blow, as the wind); originally a p. pr.
from the verb seen in Skr. v[=a] to blow, akin to AS.
w[=a]wan, D. waaijen, G. wehen, OHG. w[=a]en, w[=a]jen, Goth.
waian. [root]131. Cf. {Air}, {Ventail}, {Ventilate},
{Window}, {Winnow}.]
[1913 Webster]
1. Air naturally in motion with any degree of velocity; a
current of air.
[1913 Webster]
Except wind stands as never it stood, It is an ill wind that turns none to good. --Tusser. [1913 Webster]
Winds were soft, and woods were green. --Longfellow. [1913 Webster]
2. Air artificially put in motion by any force or action; as, the wind of a cannon ball; the wind of a bellows. [1913 Webster]
3. Breath modulated by the respiratory and vocal organs, or by an instrument. [1913 Webster]
Their instruments were various in their kind, Some for the bow, and some for breathing wind. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]
4. Power of respiration; breath. [1913 Webster]
If my wind were but long enough to say my prayers, I would repent. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
5. Air or gas generated in the stomach or bowels; flatulence; as, to be troubled with wind. [1913 Webster]
6. Air impregnated with an odor or scent. [1913 Webster]
A pack of dogfish had him in the wind. --Swift. [1913 Webster]
7. A direction from which the wind may blow; a point of the compass; especially, one of the cardinal points, which are often called the four winds. [1913 Webster]
Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain. --Ezek. xxxvii. 9. [1913 Webster]
Note: This sense seems to have had its origin in the East. The Hebrews gave to each of the four cardinal points the name of wind. [1913 Webster]
8. (Far.) A disease of sheep, in which the intestines are distended with air, or rather affected with a violent inflammation. It occurs immediately after shearing. [1913 Webster]
9. Mere breath or talk; empty effort; idle words. [1913 Webster]
Nor think thou with wind Of airy threats to awe. --Milton. [1913 Webster]
10. (Zo["o]l.) The dotterel. [Prov. Eng.] [1913 Webster]
11. (Boxing) The region of the pit of the stomach, where a blow may paralyze the diaphragm and cause temporary loss of breath or other injury; the mark. [Slang or Cant] [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
Note: Wind is often used adjectively, or as the first part of compound words. [1913 Webster]
{All in the wind}. (Naut.) See under {All}, n.
{Before the wind}. (Naut.) See under {Before}.
{Between wind and water} (Naut.), in that part of a ship's side or bottom which is frequently brought above water by the rolling of the ship, or fluctuation of the water's surface. Hence, colloquially, (as an injury to that part of a vessel, in an engagement, is particularly dangerous) the vulnerable part or point of anything.
{Cardinal winds}. See under {Cardinal}, a.
{Down the wind}. (a) In the direction of, and moving with, the wind; as, birds fly swiftly down the wind. (b) Decaying; declining; in a state of decay. [Obs.] ``He went down the wind still.'' --L'Estrange.
{In the wind's eye} (Naut.), directly toward the point from which the wind blows.
{Three sheets in the wind}, unsteady from drink. [Sailors' Slang]
{To be in the wind}, to be suggested or expected; to be a matter of suspicion or surmise. [Colloq.]
{To carry the wind} (Man.), to toss the nose as high as the ears, as a horse.
{To raise the wind}, to procure money. [Colloq.]
{To take the wind} or {To have the wind}, to gain or have the advantage. --Bacon.
{To take the wind out of one's sails}, to cause one to stop, or lose way, as when a vessel intercepts the wind of another; to cause one to lose enthusiasm, or momentum in an activity. [Colloq.]
{To take wind}, or {To get wind}, to be divulged; to become public; as, the story got wind, or took wind.
{Wind band} (Mus.), a band of wind instruments; a military band; the wind instruments of an orchestra.
{Wind chest} (Mus.), a chest or reservoir of wind in an organ.
{Wind dropsy}. (Med.) (a) Tympanites. (b) Emphysema of the subcutaneous areolar tissue.
{Wind egg}, an imperfect, unimpregnated, or addled egg.
{Wind furnace}. See the Note under {Furnace}.
{Wind gauge}. See under {Gauge}.
{Wind gun}. Same as {Air gun}.
{Wind hatch} (Mining), the opening or place where the ore is taken out of the earth.
{Wind instrument} (Mus.), an instrument of music sounded by means of wind, especially by means of the breath, as a flute, a clarinet, etc.
{Wind pump}, a pump moved by a windmill.
{Wind rose}, a table of the points of the compass, giving the states of the barometer, etc., connected with winds from the different directions.
{Wind sail}. (a) (Naut.) A wide tube or funnel of canvas, used to convey a stream of air for ventilation into the lower compartments of a vessel. (b) The sail or vane of a windmill.
{Wind shake}, a crack or incoherence in timber produced by violent winds while the timber was growing.
{Wind shock}, a wind shake.
{Wind side}, the side next the wind; the windward side. [R.] --Mrs. Browning.
{Wind rush} (Zo["o]l.), the redwing. [Prov. Eng.]
{Wind wheel}, a motor consisting of a wheel moved by wind.
{Wood wind} (Mus.), the flutes and reed instruments of an orchestra, collectively. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.
