winch

Meanings

Noun

• A machine consisting of a drum on an axle, a friction brake or ratchet and pawl, and a crank handle or prime mover (often an electric or hydraulic motor), with or without gearing, to give increased mechanical advantage when hauling on a rope or cable.
• A hoisting machine used for loading or discharging cargo, or for hauling in lines. (FM 55-501).
• A wince (machine used in dyeing or steeping cloth).
• A kick, as of an animal, from impatience or uneasiness.

Verb

• To use a winch
• To wince; to shrink
• To kick with impatience or uneasiness.

Origin

• From Middle English wynche, from Old English winċe, from Proto-Germanic *winkijǭ, ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European *weng- ("to bow, bend, arch, curve"), whence also wink.
• See wince.