▪ I. winch, n.1
(wɪnʃ)
Forms: 1 wince, 4–7 (9) wynch, (3–5 wenche, 4–6 wynche, 6 winche, 7 wintch, 9 winsh), 7– winch.
[Late OE. wince:—OTeut. *wiŋkjo-:—*weŋkjo-, f. Indo-Eur. root weŋg-, repr. also by wink v.1 (Cf. wink n.2)]
1. a. A reel, roller, or pulley.
| c 1050 Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 416/6 Gigrillus [= girgillus], wince. 1295 Acc. Exch. K.R. 5/7 (P.R.O.) In vno velamine empto .vj. li. iiij. d. In Wenches emptis ad idem. iiij s. vj. d. 1384 For. Acc. 20 C dorso (P.R.O.), j wynche ferri pro vna petra vertibili. Ibid., j gross[a] wynche ferri pro factura cordarum. 1511–12 Act 3 Hen. VIII, c. 6 §1 That the byer of Wollen clothes..shall not..cause to be drawen in lenght..the same clothes..by teynto{supr} or wynche or by eny other meane. 1563 Golding Cæsar vii. (1565) 232 With slinges that went wyth wynches [orig. fundis librilibus]..& wyth pellets, they put the Galles in feare. 1611 Cotgr., Tournoir,..the vice, or winch of a Presse. |
b. spec. An angler's reel.
| 1662 R. Venables Exper. Angler iv. 44 You may buy your Trowle ready made,..onely let it have a winch to wind it up withall. 1760 Sir J. Hawkins Walton's Angler 139 note, The winch must be screwed on to the butt of your rod. 1867 F. Francis Bk. Angling i. 13 Your winch should hold forty or fifty yards of fine line. |
c. Naut. A small machine used for making ropes and spun-yarn;
† the quantity of yarn so made.
| 1640 in Birch Charters of London (1887) 220 For a winch of cable yarn..0s. 4d. 1772–84, etc. [see spun-yarn 2]. 1794 Rigging & Seamanship I. 90 Winch, to make or twist spun⁓yarn with is made of 8 spokes, 4 at each end, and 4 wooden pins 15 inches long driven through the end of them. |
† 2. A well-wheel (turned by a crank); hence, a well.
Obs. (
Cf. dial. winch-well a deep well, and
wink n.2,
quot. 1886.)
| c 1440 Pallad. on Husb. i. 426 In stede of welle or wenche [orig. fons..aut puteus] haue a sisterne. Ibid. iii. 894 The water cleer Of cisterne or of wynche. Ibid. ix. 120 The wynchis when we delue [orig. in fodiendis puteis]. 1556 Withals Dict. (1562) 47 b/1 The wynch or wheele of the well. 1580 Hollyband Treas. Fr. Tong, La trieule,..the beame or rounde wood whereabout the cord of a well is winded, some do call it a winch. 1632 J. Hayward tr. Biondi's Eromena 195 An old well or deepe wintch..boild all the night long. |
3. The cranked handle by means of which the axis of a revolving machine is turned.
| 1660 R. D'Acres Water-drawing 11 Winches or Cranks of Wood or Iron are..fitted to mens hands, thereby to make a round motion. 1683 Moxon Mech. Exerc., Printing xi. ¶16 On the Square Pin is fitted a Winch somewhat in form like a Jack-winch. 1774 Phil. Trans. LXIV. 390 After about ninety or an hundred turns of the winch. 1787 J. Imison Treat. Mech. Powers 46 The wheel is turned by means of a winch fix'd on the axle of a trundle. 1801 Strutt Sports & Past. iii. v. 209 One of them turned the winch of an organ which he carried at his back. 1834 Fearnside Tombleson's Thames 31 By Pinkle Lock and Weir,..it is necessary for the aquatic tourist to be provided with a winch to open the gates. 1843 Penny Cycl. XXVII. 436/1 Winch and axle is a machine constituting a small windlass. 1874 Hardy Far from Madding Crowd xx, I'll turn the winch of the grindstone. |
4. a. A hoisting or hauling apparatus consisting essentially of a horizontal drum round which a rope passes and a crank by which it is turned.
| 1577 Googe tr. Heresbach's Husb. 11 b, The smaller sort [of husbandry necessaries]..Hammers, Chippe Axes, Winches, Pulleys, Wheeles [etc.]. 1674 Blount Glossogr. (ed. 4), Winch, a pulling or skrewing Engin. 1688 Holme Armoury iii. xviii. (Roxb.) 139/2 A Hand screw, or screw engine: or Ghynne or Wynch. 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), Winches, a kind of Engine to draw Barges, &c. up a River against the Stream. 1769 Falconer Dict. Marine (1776), Winch, a cylindrical piece of timber, furnished with an axis,..turned about by means of an handle resembling that of a draw-well. 1820 Scoresby Acc. Arctic Reg. II. 233 An apparatus called a ‘winch’,..for heaving the lines into the boat after the fish is..killed. 1838 J. M. Wilson's Tales Borders IV. 253/2 By the assistance of the wynch, the jib again rose to its former place. 1905 Times Lit. Suppl. 25 Aug. 268/1 The value of steam applied to winches and capstans. |
b. In the navigation of the river Thames, a revolving apparatus at the river-side, round which a rope was wound to haul craft through difficult places; a toll levied for the use of this (abolished by the Thames Conservancy Act of 1866).
| 1623 Act 21 Jas. I, c. 32 §5 For that the sayd passage from Bircot aforesayd, to the sayd Citie of Oxford, is against the streame, the Barges..must..bee haled vp by strength of men, horses, winches [etc.]. 1694 Act 6 & 7 Will. & Mary c. 16 Preamble, For the..convenience of the Navigation [of the Thames and Isis] there..are diverse Lockes Weares, Buckes Winches..and other Engines. 1754 Extr. Navig. Rolls Thames (1772) 19 The Owner of every Winch, belonging to every Lock below Reading. 1795 Jrnls. Ho. Comm. L. 125/1 Tolls..payable at the Old Locks, Weirs, and Winches. 1864 Thames Navig., Tables of Tolls July 1 Tables of Tolls (Including Old Lock Dues and Winches), which will be taken on and from July 1, 1864. |
5. Dyeing.
= wince n.2 2.
| 1791 Hamilton Berthollet's Dyeing I. i. ii. ii. 159 For the pieces of stuff, a winch or reel is used. 1799 G. Smith Laboratory I. 385 Stir it well about, and..put in your stuffs:..turn it on a winch, till you see the colour is to your mind. 1822 Imison's Sci. & Art II. 185 The stuffs..are drawn through them [sc. the baths] by a winch, or reel. 1876 Encycl. Brit. IV. 688/1 Mounted on a strong frame⁓work over the trough [of the dye vat] is the winch.., which by its revolutions..keeps the cloth moving down and up continuously into and out of the trough. |
6. attrib. as
winch-bit,
winch-gear,
winch-handle, etc.;
winchman, (
a) a man who operates a winch; (
b) a man lowered by a winch from a helicopter,
esp. to rescue people from shipwrecks, etc.
| 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., *Winch-bitts, the supports near their ends. 1893 Westm. Gaz. 28 Feb. 10/3 Kemp was standing against the winch-bit. |
| 1875 Knight Dict. Mech., *Winch-capstan, a combination in which winch-heads are arranged on top of the capstan. |
| 1881 E. Matheson Aid Bk. ii. 362 The lifting power in a crane is generally obtained by ordinary *winch-gear. |
| 1825 J. Nicholson Oper. Mech. 229 So that the power must act in like manner as if it were applied at a *winch-handle. 1894 S. R. Bottone Electr. Instr. 171 It is mounted upon an iron spindle..at one end of which is a winch-handle. |
| 1847 T. T. Stoddart Angler's Comp. 44 The triple gut casting-line..is intended..to be appended immediately to the *winch-line, by the trout-fisher. |
| 1824 R. Stevenson Bell Rock Lighthouse vi. 329 A *winch-machine, with wheel, pinion and barrel, round which last the chain was wound. 1946 A. J. Hall Stand. Handbk. Textiles iv. 169 The winch machine is essentially a vat..above which is mounted a horizontal winch. |
| 1882 Standard 26 Aug. 3/7 A man should have watched the case and given orders to the gangwayman, who, in turn, ought to have given orders to the *winchman. 1894 Times 5 Feb. 3/3 The winchman and the bullrope man..in assisting to unload the vessel. 1958 Times 23 June 6/1 The girls..were brought up into the helicopter by winchman Sergeant Jim Gilpin. 1977 R.A.F. News 27 Apr.–10 May 1/4 Along with winchman FS Roger Lynn he airlifted a two-ton cabin into the garden of a Durham man so that a kidney machine could be installed. 1979 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 15 Aug. 1/2 (caption) Winchman on a rescue helicopter hangs over a crew member from yacht Ariadne. |
| 1883 W. C. Russell Sea Queen II. ii. 30 The tiny clink of *winch-pawls. |
| 1902 How to make useful things 10/1 A few inches from the lower end of the butt a recess is made sufficiently large to take the *winch-plate. |
| 1831–3 Encycl. Metrop. (1845) VIII. 528/2 When one or more pieces of goods are to be dyed the *winch-reel is employed. |
▪ II. † winch, n.2 Obs. rare.
[f. winch v.1] 1. A ‘turn’ or ‘twist’ in argument.
| 1549 Gardiner in Foxe A. & M. (1563) 804/1, I thinke there was neuer man had more playne euident matter to alledge, then I haue, without winches or arguments or deuises of wit. |
2. = wince n.1 2.
| c 1738 J. Skinner Christmas Ba'ing xix, Poor Petrie gae a weary winch. |
▪ III. winch, v.1 Obs. exc. dial. (
wɪnʃ)
Forms: 3
wenche, 4–6
wynche, 6
winche, (7
whinch, 9
dial. winsh), 6–
winch.
[a. AF. *wenchier, *wenchir = OF. guenchier, -ir intr. to turn aside, trans. to avoid, a. Teut. *weŋkjan (OHG., MHG. wenken, OS. wenkean):—*waŋkjan, f. waŋk- (whence OHG. wank side movement, return, OHG., G. wanken, ON. vakka, OE. wancol wankle a.): weŋk- (whence winch n.1, wink).] 1. intr. To start back or away, recoil, flinch; to wince.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 98 Auh for alle onsweres, wendeð ou ant wencheð frommard him. ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 2104 Qwarelles qwayntly swappez thorowe knyghtez With iryne so wekyrly, that wynche they neuer. ? a 1500 Peblis to the Play xiii, He stert till ane broggit stauf, Wincheand as he war woode. 1540 Palsgr. Acolastus Prol. B iv, Thou begynnest to wynche or to startle on this facion. 1553 Respublica i. iii. 284 He that ones wincheth shall fele the waite of my fiste. 1595 Shakes. John iv. i. 81, I will not stirre, nor winch, nor speake a word. 1628 Robin Goodfellow (1841) 41 Sluts and slovens I doe pinch, And make them in their beds to winch. 1634 W. Wood New Eng. Prosp. ii. viii, Beate them, whip them, pinch them, punch them, if they resolve not to whinch for it, they will not. 1687 Dryden Hind & P. iii. 133 Yet seem'd she not to winch, though shrewdly pain'd. 1718 Cibber Non-juror v, You must not winch nor stir too soon, at any Freedom you observe me take with him. 1878 Cumbld. Gloss., Winsh, wince. |
† b. fig. To recoil in fear or disgust (
at).
Obs.| 1605 Marston Dutch Courtezan iii. i, He must nere winch, that would or thriue, or saue, To be cald Nigard, cuckold, Cut-throat, Knaue. 1637 Heylin Antid. Lincoln. Pref. A 6 b, A long studied discourse in maintenance of sitting at the holy Sacrament, which good Master Burton never winched at. 1680 H. More Apocal. Apoc. 23 They shall..severely rule them, so that they shall not be able to whinch but at their own peril. 1709 Steele Tatler No. 76 ¶8 A general Representation of an Action, either ridiculous or enormous, may make those winch who find too much Similitude in the Character with themselves to plead Not Guilty. |
† 2. Of a horse: To kick restlessly or impatiently;
= wince v.
1 1.
Obs.| 1483 Cath. Angl. 420/1 To Wynche, calcitrare. 1510 Stanbridge Vocabula (W. de W.) C v, Recalcitro, to wynche agayne, or kyke. a 1529 Skelton Col. Cloute 182 Let se who that dare Sho the mockysshe mare; They make her wynche and keke. 1575 Gascoigne Weedes, Green Knt. 87 He winched still alwayes, and whisked with his taile. 1591 Greene Farew. Folly B 3 b, Sylenus asse neuer sawe a wine bottle but he would winch. 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), To Wince or Winch,..properly to throw out the hinder Feet, as a Horse does. |
b. In allusive and proverbial
phr.,
esp. with reference to the ‘wincing’ of a ‘galled’ horse.
| 1493 Festivall (W. de W. 1515) 173 b, As a galled horse whiche is touched on the sore he wyncheth & wryeth. c 1520 Skelton Magnyf. 2023 Remembre the tourne of Fortunes whele, That wantonly can wynke, and wynche with her hele. 1548 Udall Erasm. Par. Ep. Ded. {fatpara}2, Who so wyncheth and kicketh at the ghospell. a 1566 R. Edwards Damon & Pithias (1571) B iv b, I know the galde horse will soonest winche. 1566 Drant Horace, Sat. v. D 2 b, Synce you agaynst these churchly rites so longe and sore dyd wynche. 1615 R. Brathwait Strappado (1878) 109 Yet do not winch (good iade) when thou art gall'd. 1626 W. Fenner Hid. Manna Ep. Ded., The will of it self, the more reason it hath to be turned, the more it is wilful, it hinches and winches, and snuffes against it. 1693 Congreve Old Bach. v. xiii, Aram. Bless me! What have you done to him? Belin. Only touch'd a gall'd beast till he winch'd. 1718 Cibber Non-juror ii. i, Sir, you cannot conceive the wonderful use of Clamour, 'tis so teizing to a Ministry, it makes them winch and fret. |
† c. trans. To kick (a person)
out of.
rare.
| 1623 Fletcher & Rowley Maid in Mill ii. i, A galled Jennet that will winch him out o' the Saddle. |
Hence
ˈwinching vbl. n.1 and ppl. a.1| 1525 Stanbridge's Vocabula (W. de W.) C v b, Sternax, a wynchynge horse. 1577 Hanmer Anc. Eccl. Hist. 205 A certaine shamefull winching & repining. 1593 G. Harvey Pierce's Super. Wks. (Grosart) II. 246 Not such a powting waspe in Ramme-ally, or such a winching iade in Smithfield. 1631 [Mabbe] Celestina iii. 40 [Women] are all of them ticklish, and skittish; the whole generation of them is given to winching and flinging. 1664 H. More Myst. Iniq. 101 That they might, without any ones whinching, decree..what-ever would tend to the encrease of their own honour and wealth. |
▪ IV. winch, v.2 [f. winch n.1] 1. trans. To hoist or draw
up, etc. with or as with a winch.
| 1529 Dunmow Churchw. Acc. lf. 10 (MS.) To fett a gabull to wynche up the tymber. 1530 Palsgr. 408 b/2, I wynche or wynde vp with a wyndlasse or a crane... You shall neuer get this stryng in to the nocke but you wynche it vp. 1599 Hakluyt Voy. II. i. 128 He..was winched vp in that chaire, and fastened vnto the maineyard of a galley. 1633 J. Fisher Fuimus Troes ii. ii, I'le winch vp thy estate. 1909 E. Suffolk Gaz. 12 Jan. 3/7 All slack line must be winched in. 1913 Conrad Within the Tides, etc. (1915) 219 It was she who winched up that infernal machine, and it was she too who lowered it that night. |
2. Dyeing.
= wince v.
2| 1831–3 Encycl. Metrop. (1845) VIII. 514 The silk should be winched through a copper of water at the heat of 160°. 1855 Abridgm. Specif. Patents, Bleaching, etc. (1859) 565, I..keep the liquor to the boiling point for about one hour and twenty minutes, during which time the cloth should be winched as before. 1883 R. Haldane Workshop Rec. ii. 40/1 For ungumming, the piece is simply winched backwards and forwards. |
Hence
ˈwinching vbl. n.2 and ppl. a.2| 1875 H. R. Robertson Life Upper Thames 19 The tightening of the bolts before tying them is called winching..: two stout pieces of wood are used which are called the levers, and are connected by a strong cord passed round the bolt. 1902 Daily Record & Mail 6 Aug. 3 The winching-away men and sweepers and screwers. |