from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
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}.]
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1. Air naturally in motion with any degree of velocity; a
current of air.
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Except wind stands as never it stood,
It is an ill wind that turns none to good. --Tusser.
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Winds were soft, and woods were green. --Longfellow.
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2. Air artificially put in motion by any force or action; as,
the wind of a cannon ball; the wind of a bellows.
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3. Breath modulated by the respiratory and vocal organs, or
by an instrument.
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Their instruments were various in their kind,
Some for the bow, and some for breathing wind.
--Dryden.
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4. Power of respiration; breath.
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If my wind were but long enough to say my prayers, I
would repent. --Shak.
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5. Air or gas generated in the stomach or bowels; flatulence;
as, to be troubled with wind.
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6. Air impregnated with an odor or scent.
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A pack of dogfish had him in the wind. --Swift.
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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.
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Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon
these slain. --Ezek.
xxxvii. 9.
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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.
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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.
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9. Mere breath or talk; empty effort; idle words.
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Nor think thou with wind
Of airy threats to awe. --Milton.
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10. (Zool.) The dotterel. [Prov. Eng.]
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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]
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Note: Wind is often used adjectively, or as the first part of
compound words.
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{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} (Zool.), 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.
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