1.
When you wind down something such as the window of a car, you make it move downwards by turning a handle.
Glass motioned to him to wind down the window...
If a stranger stops you, just wind the window down a fraction.
≠ wind up
PHRASAL VERB : V P n (not pron) , V n P
2.
If you wind down , you relax after doing something that has made you feel tired or tense. ( INFORMAL )
I regularly have a drink to wind down.
= unwind
PHRASAL VERB : V P
3.
If someone winds down a business or activity, they gradually reduce the amount of work that is done or the number of people that are involved, usually before closing or stopping it completely.
Foreign aid workers have already begun winding down their operation...
In 1991 the Ada plant began to wind down.
PHRASAL VERB : V P n (not pron) , V P , also V n P