Word: windmill Part of Speech: noun 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. Pronunciation: /ˈwɪn(d).mɪl/ 1. A machine which translates linear motion of wind to rotational motion by means of adjustable vanes called sails. Example: 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. 2. The building or structure containing such machinery. Example: 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. Example: 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. 3. A wind turbine, a device for converting wind power into electricity. Labels: colloquial, proscribed Example: “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.” Example: “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.” 4. A child's toy consisting of vanes mounted on a stick that rotate when blown by a person or by the wind. 5. A dunk where the dunker swings his arm in a circular motion before throwing the ball through the hoop. 6. A pitch where the pitcher swings his arm in a circular motion before throwing the ball. 7. A guitar move where the strumming hand mimics a turning windmill. 8. 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. 9. 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. 10. Any of various large papilionid butterflies of the genus Byasa, the wings of which resemble the vanes of a windmill. 11. The false shower. 12. An imaginary enemy, but presented as real. Labels: figuratively Example: to fight windmills 13. The act of windmilling. 14. A tactic in which a piece repeatedly gains material, while simultaneously creating an inescapable series of alternating direct and discovered checks.