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windlass (n.)
device for raising weights by winding a rope round a cylinder, c. 1400, alteration of wyndase (late 13c.), from Anglo-French windas, and directly from a Scandinavian source such as Old Norse vindass, from vinda "to wind" (see wind (v.1)) + ass "pole, beam" (cognate with Gothic ans "beam, pillar").
updated on April 06, 2014
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Dictionary entries near windlass
windbag
windbreak
windbreaker
windfall
windhover
windlass
windmill
window
windowless
Windows
windowsill