'Down the wind' definitions:

Definition of 'Down the wind'

From: GCIDE
  • Wind \Wind\ (w[i^]nd, in poetry and singing often w[imac]nd; 277), n. [AS. wind; akin to OS., OFries., D., & G. wind, OHG. wint, Dan. & Sw. vind, Icel. vindr, Goth winds, W. gwynt, L. ventus, Skr. v[=a]ta (cf. Gr. 'ah`ths a blast, gale, 'ah^nai to breathe hard, to blow, as the wind); originally a p. pr. from the verb seen in Skr. v[=a] to blow, akin to AS. w[=a]wan, D. waaijen, G. wehen, OHG. w[=a]en, w[=a]jen, Goth. waian. [root]131. Cf. Air, Ventail, Ventilate, Window, Winnow.] [1913 Webster]
  • 1. Air naturally in motion with any degree of velocity; a current of air. [1913 Webster]
  • Except wind stands as never it stood, It is an ill wind that turns none to good. --Tusser. [1913 Webster]
  • Winds were soft, and woods were green. --Longfellow. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. Air artificially put in motion by any force or action; as, the wind of a cannon ball; the wind of a bellows. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. Breath modulated by the respiratory and vocal organs, or by an instrument. [1913 Webster]
  • Their instruments were various in their kind, Some for the bow, and some for breathing wind. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]
  • 4. Power of respiration; breath. [1913 Webster]
  • If my wind were but long enough to say my prayers, I would repent. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
  • 5. Air or gas generated in the stomach or bowels; flatulence; as, to be troubled with wind. [1913 Webster]
  • 6. Air impregnated with an odor or scent. [1913 Webster]
  • A pack of dogfish had him in the wind. --Swift. [1913 Webster]
  • 7. A direction from which the wind may blow; a point of the compass; especially, one of the cardinal points, which are often called the four winds. [1913 Webster]
  • Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain. --Ezek. xxxvii. 9. [1913 Webster]
  • Note: This sense seems to have had its origin in the East. The Hebrews gave to each of the four cardinal points the name of wind. [1913 Webster]
  • 8. (Far.) A disease of sheep, in which the intestines are distended with air, or rather affected with a violent inflammation. It occurs immediately after shearing. [1913 Webster]
  • 9. Mere breath or talk; empty effort; idle words. [1913 Webster]
  • Nor think thou with wind Of airy threats to awe. --Milton. [1913 Webster]
  • 10. (Zool.) The dotterel. [Prov. Eng.] [1913 Webster]
  • 11. (Boxing) The region of the pit of the stomach, where a blow may paralyze the diaphragm and cause temporary loss of breath or other injury; the mark. [Slang or Cant] [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
  • Note: Wind is often used adjectively, or as the first part of compound words. [1913 Webster]
  • All in the wind. (Naut.) See under All, n.
  • Before the wind. (Naut.) See under Before.
  • Between wind and water (Naut.), in that part of a ship's side or bottom which is frequently brought above water by the rolling of the ship, or fluctuation of the water's surface. Hence, colloquially, (as an injury to that part of a vessel, in an engagement, is particularly dangerous) the vulnerable part or point of anything.
  • Cardinal winds. See under Cardinal, a.
  • Down the wind. (a) In the direction of, and moving with, the wind; as, birds fly swiftly down the wind. (b) Decaying; declining; in a state of decay. [Obs.] "He went down the wind still." --L'Estrange.
  • In the wind's eye (Naut.), directly toward the point from which the wind blows.
  • Three sheets in the wind, unsteady from drink. [Sailors' Slang]
  • To be in the wind, to be suggested or expected; to be a matter of suspicion or surmise. [Colloq.]
  • To carry the wind (Man.), to toss the nose as high as the ears, as a horse.
  • To raise the wind, to procure money. [Colloq.]
  • To take the wind or To have the wind, to gain or have the advantage. --Bacon.
  • To take the wind out of one's sails, to cause one to stop, or lose way, as when a vessel intercepts the wind of another; to cause one to lose enthusiasm, or momentum in an activity. [Colloq.]
  • To take wind, or To get wind, to be divulged; to become public; as, the story got wind, or took wind.
  • Wind band (Mus.), a band of wind instruments; a military band; the wind instruments of an orchestra.
  • Wind chest (Mus.), a chest or reservoir of wind in an organ.
  • Wind dropsy. (Med.) (a) Tympanites. (b) Emphysema of the subcutaneous areolar tissue.
  • Wind egg, an imperfect, unimpregnated, or addled egg.
  • Wind furnace. See the Note under Furnace.
  • Wind gauge. See under Gauge.
  • Wind gun. Same as Air gun.
  • Wind hatch (Mining), the opening or place where the ore is taken out of the earth.
  • Wind instrument (Mus.), an instrument of music sounded by means of wind, especially by means of the breath, as a flute, a clarinet, etc.
  • Wind pump, a pump moved by a windmill.
  • Wind rose, a table of the points of the compass, giving the states of the barometer, etc., connected with winds from the different directions.
  • Wind sail. (a) (Naut.) A wide tube or funnel of canvas, used to convey a stream of air for ventilation into the lower compartments of a vessel. (b) The sail or vane of a windmill.
  • Wind shake, a crack or incoherence in timber produced by violent winds while the timber was growing.
  • Wind shock, a wind shake.
  • Wind side, the side next the wind; the windward side. [R.] --Mrs. Browning.
  • Wind rush (Zool.), the redwing. [Prov. Eng.]
  • Wind wheel, a motor consisting of a wheel moved by wind.
  • Wood wind (Mus.), the flutes and reed instruments of an orchestra, collectively. [1913 Webster]

Words containing 'Down the wind'