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Webster's Dictionary (1865)

2 entries under this word

Windlass

Wind'lass, v. i.

verbintransitive

v. i. To go warily to work; to act indirectly. Hammond.

Wind'lass, n.

noun

n. [Apparently from wind and lace; but cf. D. windas, wind-aas, from winden, to wind, and as, an axis, whence Fr. vindas, guindas, a windlass.]

  1. A machine for raising weights, consisting of a cylinder or roller of timber, moving on its axis, and turned by a crank, lever, or similar means, with a rope or chain attached to the weight.
  2. The apparatus resembling a winch or windlass, for bending the bow of an arblast or cross-bow. [Obs.]
  3. Art and contrivance; subtleties. [Obs.] Shak.

Common Windlass.

An engraving of a ship’s windlass with its chain wound around the central drum.
Ship's Windlass.
A common windlass with a handle, a large portion of its cylinder, and a lesser portion of its cylinder.
Common Windlass.