windmill
To rotate with a sweeping motionTo rotate with a sweeping motion.
» I had never seen a windmill until I visited the Netherlands.
Bevor ich in die Niederlande reiste, hatte ich noch nie Windmühlen gesehen. — al_ex_an_der
До поездки в Нидерланды я никогда не видел ветряных мельниц. — soweli_Elepanto
До мандрівки у Нідерланди я ніколи раніше не бачив вітряків. — iceman
CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FRMeaning
4 senses(intransitive, transitive)To rotate with a sweeping motion.
She ran down the hill, windmilling her arms with glee.
(intransitive)To (become disengaged and) rotate freely.
The axle broke and the wheel windmilled in place briefly before careening through the wall.
To (become disengaged and) rotate freely.
(intransitive)To be rotated by the force of the fluid passing through (the propeller or turbine rotor).
(intransitive, slang)To move in order to rotate the penis in a circle (similar to the rotation of a windmill).
Examples
36 sentencesI had never seen a windmill until I visited the Netherlands.
До мандрівки у Нідерланди я ніколи раніше не бачив вітряків. — iceman
ruДо поездки в Нидерланды я никогда не видел ветряных мельниц. — soweli_Elepanto
deBevor ich in die Niederlande reiste, hatte ich noch nie Windmühlen gesehen. — al_ex_an_der
No matter where you go in Holland, you'll see windmills.
It doesn't matter where you go in Holland, you'll see windmills.
It's like fighting windmills.
Це все одно що битися з вітряками. — deniko
ruЭто всё равно что сражаться с ветряными мельницами. — marafon
He's tilting at windmills.
Він воює з вітряками. — deniko
ruОн сражается с ветряными мельницами. — sharptoothed
deEr kämpft gegen Windmühlen. — manese
Origin
From Middle English wyndmylne, wyndmylle, equivalent to wind + mill. Cognate with Scots wyFrom Middle English wyndmylne, wyndmylle, equivalent to wind + mill. Cognate with Scots wyndmyln, wyndmyl, Saterland Frisian Wíendmäälne, West Frisian wynmûne, Dutch windmolen, Afrikaans windmeul, Dutch Low Saxon windmölle (Achterhooks), wiendmeule (Drents, Veluws), German Low German Windmöhl, German Windmühle, Danish vindmølle, Norwegian Bokmål vindmølle, Norwegian Nynorsk vindmølle, vindmylne, Swedish vindmölla, Icelandic vindmylla.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
windmills, windmilling, windmilled, windmilled| Base form | windmill · to windmill |
|---|---|
| 3rd person singular | windmills |
| Present participle | windmilling |
| Past simple | windmilled |
| Past participle | windmilled |
regular · Lesson
Word family
4 related wordsLessons for this word
3 lessons- A1Present simple — Because it is a verb
- A1Past simple, regular verbs — Because of its past form
- A2Present perfect: introduction — Because of its past participle