Sekirov Dictionary

windlass

/ˈwɪnd.ləs/

noun 3
verb 2
forms 3

noun3

Any of various forms of winch, in which a rope or cable is wound around a cylinder, used for lifting heavy weights
An apparatus resembling a winch or windlass, for bending the bow of an arblast, or crossbow.
•
A winding and circuitous way; a roundabout course.
- With windlasses and with assays of bias, / By indirections find directions out. — 1599

verb2

•
To raise with, or as if with, a windlass; to use a windlass.
- A favoring breeze enabled us to sail all the way down the lake, and (having been windlassed across the haul-over) even down the canals. — 1882
To take a roundabout course; to work warily or by indirect means.

forms

windlassed · windlassing · windlasses

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