I. AIR
(~s, ~ing, ~ed)
Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English.
1.
A ~ is a current of air that is moving across the earth’s surface.
There was a strong ~ blowing...
The leaves rustled in the ~...
N-VAR
2.
Journalists often refer to a trend or factor that influences events as a ~ of a particular kind.
The ~s of change are blowing across the country...
N-COUNT: N of n
3.
If you are ~ed by something such as a blow, the air is suddenly knocked out of your lungs so that you have difficulty breathing for a short time.
He was ~ed and shaken...
The cow stamped on his side, ~ing him.
VERB: be V-ed, V n
4.
Wind is the air that you sometimes swallow with food or drink, or gas that is produced in your intestines, which causes an uncomfortable feeling.
N-UNCOUNT
5.
The ~ section of an orchestra or band is the group of people who produce musical sounds by blowing into their instruments.
ADJ: ADJ n
6.
If someone breaks ~, they release gas from their intestines through their anus.
PHRASE: V inflects
7.
If you get ~ of something, you hear about it, especially when someone else did not want you to know about it. (INFORMAL)
I don’t want the public, and especially not the press, to get ~ of it at this stage.
PHRASE: V inflects, PHR n
8.
If you sail close to the ~, you take a risk by doing or saying something that may get you into trouble.
Max warned her she was sailing dangerously close to the ~ and risked prosecution.
PHRASE: V inflects
9.
to throw caution to the ~: see caution
II. TURNING OR WRAPPING
(~s, ~ing, wound)
Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English.
1.
If a road, river, or line of people ~s in a particular direction, it goes in that direction with a lot of bends or twists in it.
The Moselle ~s through some 160 miles of tranquil countryside...
The convoy wound its way through the West Bank.
...a narrow ~ing road.
VERB: V prep/adv, V way prep/adv, V-ing
2.
When you ~ something flexible around something else, you wrap it around it several times.
The horse jumped forwards and round her, ~ing the rope round her waist.
VERB: V n prep/adv
3.
When you ~ a mechanical device, for example a watch or a clock, you turn a knob, key, or handle on it several times in order to make it operate.
I still hadn’t wound my watch so I didn’t know the time.
VERB: V n
•
Wind up means the same as ~ .
I wound up the watch and listened to it tick...
Frances took the tiny music box from her trunk and wound it up.
PHRASAL VERB: V P n (not pron), V n P
4.
To ~ a tape or film back or forward means to make it move towards its starting or ending position.
The camcorder ~s the tape back or forward at high speed.
VERB: V n adv