Wind-up

The phrase wind-up (and wind up, as two separate words with no hyphen) exists with two pronunciations, and two meanings. These derive from the two main meanings you can see at Wind (disambiguation).

• The first group of words are all derived from the verb 'to wind (pronounced /waɪnd/ W-EYE-ND). Its forms may be seen at [[wind (irregular verb); the relevant past forms of the phrases below are wound, pronounced /waÊŠnd/ 'wOWnd'. (See also Wound (homographs)).
  • The phrasal verb 'to wind up' means
    • literally, when a clock or watch is wound to its maximum, it is wound up. Even before the invention of clockwork, 'to wind up was 'to raise [something] by turning a handle'. Examples include winding coal up from a mine by the powerful engines at the pit-head; and the old-fashioned car window raised by turning a handle set in the door. Sportsmen such as pitchers in baseball may also wind up their muscles preparatory to releasing energy
    • figuratively, its most common use, at least in academic writing, is 'to bring to a close', 'to gather up all the loose ends'. A speech, or a lecture, can be wound up: this is rather like 'brought to a conclusion', or 'summarised'. When a company is wound up, it is formally closed. A Chairman may wind up a debate by summarising the arguments put by the two sides, or a public meeting by thanking the participants. The adjective may be applied to, for example, a variety show made of different acts, in which the best is usually 'the wind-up act' which comes to a climax and brings the evening to a close.
    • Less formally, but with a similar sense of 'finishing', a traveller who winds up in a place has ended the day's journey there, with an implication of 'by chance', or 'without really meaning to': that is as far as could be reached that day; a refugee may wind up, after the troubles of wars, invasions etc, in a country thousands of miles from where she was born; a doctor may wind up in a rural practice at the end of a long career in a city.
    • Even less formally, to wind someone up is to provoke that person into becoming angry. Schoolchildren can be very able in winding their teachers up. Such a performance can be labelled by the noun 'a wind-up.'
  • The compound adjective wind-up (pronounced 'wEYEnd-up', IPA: /ˈwaɪndÊŒp/) describes machinery powered by clockwork: a wind-up gramophone, for example, had to be cranked to give it the power to play records. These were 78 r.p.m., and the amplification was by a large horn. This was replaced by the electric record-player, which had the capacity to play 45 r.p.m singles and 33 r.p.m. Long-playing records, which were amplified electronically. The adjective is now often used by children: 'a wind-up toy is a clockwork toy.

• The second wind-up' is derived from the noun wind, and like it is pronounced with the vowel of 'with', 'in' and 'if' (IPA: /wɪnd/). (See also Wind (homographs).) It is a noun, a slang expression dating from the First World War. 'Having or getting the wind-up (or wind up) means entering a state of fear or alarm, somewhat short of abject panic: the level of fear to which a soldier in the trenches might confess experiencing. If applied to others it might convey a note of contempt. One can put the wind up an enemy, perhaps by shelling him closely, and one could describe a person as being windy.

See also wind down. (Paradoxically, one of its meanings is quite near that of the first figurative meaning of wind up above.)