windmill
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈwɪn(d).mɪl/
Forms: form: windmills
Etymology: 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.
Senses: examples: text: 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.
ref: 2013 July-August, Lee S. Langston, “The Adaptable Gas Turbine”, in American Scientist:
glosses: A machine which translates linear motion of wind to rotational motion by means of adjustable vanes called sails.
examples: text: 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.
ref: 1984, Hayden McAllister, Funny-bunny bedtime stories:
text: The home of the high-spirited French can-can has been laid temporarily low after the sails of the red-painted windmill on top of the Moulin Rouge, the most celebrated cabaret in Paris, tumbled inexplicably to the ground in the early hours.
ref: 2024 April 25, Jon Henley, “Moulin Rouge windmill sails collapse in Paris”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
glosses: The building or structure containing such machinery.
examples: text: “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.”
ref: 2019 December 24, Richard Luscombe, quoting Donald Trump, “‘I never understood wind’: Trump goes on bizarre tirade against wind turbines”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
text: “The other thing I say to Europe: we’ve – we will not allow a windmill to be built in the United States. They’re killing us. They’re killing the beauty of our scenery.”
ref: 2025 August 3, Adam Gabbatt, quoting Donald Trump, “‘He has trouble completing a thought’: bizarre public appearances again cast doubt on Trump’s mental acuity”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
glosses: A wind turbine, a device for converting wind power into electricity.
synonyms: pinwheel
glosses: A child's toy consisting of vanes mounted on a stick that rotate when blown by a person or by the wind.
topics: ball-games
basketball
games
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: A dunk where the dunker swings his arm in a circular motion before throwing the ball through the hoop.
topics: ball-games
baseball
games
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: A pitch where the pitcher swings his arm in a circular motion before throwing the ball.
topics: entertainment
lifestyle
music
glosses: A guitar move where the strumming hand mimics a turning windmill.
topics: dance
dancing
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: A breakdancing move in which the dancer rolls his/her 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.
glosses: 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.
glosses: Any of various large papilionid butterflies of the genus Byasa, the wings of which resemble the vanes of a windmill.
topics: arts
hobbies
juggling
lifestyle
performing-arts
sports
glosses: The false shower.
examples: text: to fight windmills
synonyms: straw man
glosses: An imaginary enemy, but presented as real.
glosses: The act of windmilling.
Hyponyms: sense: child's toy
word: hand windmill
Derived terms: cap over the windmill
fight windmills
giddy as a windmill
hat over the windmill
pink windmills
throw one's cap over the windmill
throw one's hat over the windmill
tilt at windmills
windmill graph
windmill grass
windmill pink
windmill restart
windmills in one's head