windle
The redwingThe redwing.
Meaning
8 senses(UK, dialectal)The redwing.
(dialectal)A basket.
An old English measure of corn, half a bushel.
Any dried-out grass leaf or stalk in a field.
Any dried-out grass leaf or stalk in a field.
Also any of several species of grasses that leave such leaves or stalks, such as dog-tail grass, Plantago lanceolata.
Bent grass (Agrostis spp.).
A windlass.
A reel for winding something into a bundle, such as winding string or yarn into skeins or straw into bundles.
Origin
Perhaps from wind. From Middle English windle, windel, from Old English windel (“basket”)Perhaps from wind.
From Middle English windle, windel, from Old English windel (“basket”), from Proto-West Germanic *windil, from Proto-Germanic *windilaz (“wrap; diaper; plaitwork; basket”), equivalent to wind + -le. Related to Old English windan (“to wind, twist”).
From Middle English windel, shortened from Old English windelstrēaw (“windlestraw, coarse grass or reed”).
From Middle English windel, from Old Norse vindla (“to wind up”) or Middle Dutch windelen (“to turn around, spin”). Related to Old English windelstān (“tower with a winding staircase”), bewindla (“a hedge or border”), hringġewindla (“a sphere”).
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