Emily Dickinson Lexicon

WIND, v.t. [pret. and pp. wound; Sax. windan; G. and D. winden; from wind, or the same root.]

1. To blow; to sound by blowing or inflation. Wind the shrill horn. – Pope.
2. To turn; to move, or cause to turn. To turn and wind a fiery Pegasus. – Shell.
3. To turn round some fixed object; to bind, or to form into a ball or coil by turning; as, to wind thread on a spool; wind thread into a ball; to wind a rope into a coil.
4. To introduce by insinuation. The child winds himself into my affections. They have little arts and dexterities to wind in such things into discourse. – Gov. of the Tongue.
5. To change; to vary. Were our legislature vested in the prince, he might wind and turn our constitution at his pleasure. – Addison.
6. To entwist; to infold; to encircle. – Shak.
7. [With i short, as in win.] To nose; to perceive or to follow by the scent; as, hounds wind an animal.
8. To ventilate; to expose to the wind; to winnow. To wind off, [with i long,] to unwind. To wind out, to extricate. – Clarendon. To wind up, to bring to a small compass, as a ball of thread. – Locke. #2. To bring to a conclusion or settlement; as, to wind one's affairs. #3. To put in a state of renovated or continued motion. Fate seemed to wind him up for fourscore years. – Dryden. To wind up a clock, is to wind the cord by which the weights are suspended, round an axis or pin. To wind up a watch, is to wind the spring round its axis or pin. #2. To raise by degrees. Thus they wound up his temper to a pitch. – Atterbury. #3. To straiten, as a string; to put in tune. Wind up the slacken'd strings of thy lute. – Kell. #4. To put in order for regular action. – Shak.