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wind1
1. air in natural motion, as that moving horizontally at any velocity along the earth's surface: A gentle wind blew through the valley. High winds were forecast.2. a gale; storm; hurricane.3. any stream of air, as that produced by a bellows or fan.4. air that is blown or forced to produce a musical sound in singing or playing an instrument.5. See wind instrument.6. wind instruments collectively.7. the winds, the members of an orchestra or band who play the wind instruments.8. breath or breathing: to catch one's wind.9. the power of breathing freely, as during continued exertion.10. any influential force or trend: strong winds of public opinion.11. a hint or intimation: to catch wind of a stock split.12. air carrying an animal's odor or scent.13. See solar wind.14. empty talk; mere words.15. vanity; conceitedness.16. gas generated in the stomach and intestines.17. Boxing Slang. the pit of the stomach where a blow may cause a temporary shortness of breath; solar plexus.18. any direction of the compass.19. a state of unconcern, recklessness, or abandon: to throw all caution to the winds.20. between wind and water,a. (of a ship) at or near the water line.b. in a vulnerable or precarious spot: In her profession one is always between wind and water.21. break wind, to expel gas from the stomach and bowels through the anus.22. how the wind blows or lies, what the tendency or probability is: Try to find out how the wind blows. Also, which way the wind blows.23. in the teeth of the wind, sailing directly into the wind; against the wind. Also, in the eye of the wind, in the wind's eye.25. off the wind,a. away from the wind; with the wind at one's back.b. (of a sailing vessel) headed into the wind with sails shaking or aback.26. on the wind, as close as possible to the wind. Also, on a wind.27. sail close to the wind,a. Also, sail close on a wind. to sail as nearly as possible in the direction from which the wind is blowing.b. to practice economy in the management of one's affairs.c. to verge on a breach of propriety or decency.28. take the wind out of one's sails, to surprise someone, esp. with unpleasant news; stun; shock; flabbergast: She took the wind out of his sails when she announced she was marrying someone else.v.t.29. to expose to wind or air.30. to follow by the scent.31. to make short of wind or breath, as by vigorous exercise.32. to let recover breath, as by resting after exertion.v.i.33. to catch the scent or odor of game.Syn. 1. WIND, AIR, ZEPHYR, BREEZE, BLAST, GUST refer to a quantity of air set in motion naturally. WIND applies to any such air in motion, blowing with whatever degree of gentleness or violence. AIR, usually poetical, applies to a very gentle motion of the air. ZEPHYR, also poetical, refers to an air characterized by its soft, mild quality. A BREEZE is usually a cool, light wind. BLAST and GUST apply to quick, forceful winds of short duration; BLAST implies a violent rush of air, often a cold one, whereas a GUST is little more than a flurry. 16. flatulence.wind2v.i.1. to change direction; bend; turn; take a frequently bending course; meander: The river winds through the forest.2. to have a circular or spiral course or direction.3. to coil or twine about something: The ivy winds around the house.4. to proceed circuitously or indirectly.5. to undergo winding or winding up.6. to be twisted or warped, as a board.v.t.7. to encircle or wreathe, as with something twined, wrapped, or placed about.9. to remove or take off by unwinding (usually fol. by off or from): She wound the thread off the bobbin.10. to twine, fold, wrap, or place about something.11. to make (a mechanism) operational by tightening the mainspring with a key (often fol. by up): to wind a clock; to wind up a toy.12. to haul or hoist by means of a winch, windlass, or the like (often fol. by up).13. to make (one's or its way) in a bending or curving course: The stream winds its way through the woods.14. to make (one's or its way) by indirect, stealthy, or devious procedure: to wind one's way into another's confidence.15. wind down,a. to lessen in intensity so as to bring or come to a gradual end: The war is winding down.b. to calm down; relax: He's too excited tonight to wind down and sleep.16. wind up,a. to bring to a state of great tension; excite (usually used in the past participle): He was all wound up before the game.b. to bring or come to an end; conclude: to wind up a sales campaign.c. to settle or arrange in order to conclude: to wind up one's affairs.d. to become ultimately: to wind up as a country schoolteacher.e. Baseball. (of a pitcher) to execute a windup.n.17. the act of winding.18. a single turn, twist, or bend of something wound: If you give it another wind, you'll break the mainspring.19. a twist producing an uneven surface.20. out of wind, (of boards, plasterwork, etc.) flat and true.[bef. 900; ME winden, OE windan; c. D, G winden, ON vinda, Goth -windan; akin to WEND, WANDER]wind31. to blow (a horn, a blast, etc.).2. to sound by blowing.3. to signal or direct by blasts of the horn or the like.[1375-1425; late ME; special use of WIND1]
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IMovement of air relative to the surface of the Earth.Wind is an important factor in determining and controlling climate and weather. It is also the generating force of most ocean and freshwater waves. Wind occurs because of horizontal and vertical differences in atmospheric pressure. The general pattern of winds over the Earth is known as the general circulation, and specific winds are named for the direction from which they originate (e.g., a wind blowing from west to east is a westerly). Wind speeds are often classified according to the Beaufort scale.II(as used in expressions)* * *
in climatology, the movement of air relative to the surface of the Earth. Winds play a significant role in determining and controlling climate and weather. A brief treatment of winds follows. For full treatment, see climate: Wind (climate).Wind occurs because of horizontal and vertical differences (gradients) in atmospheric pressure. Accordingly, the distribution of winds is closely related to that of pressure. Near the Earth's surface, winds generally flow around regions of relatively low (cyclone) and high pressure—cyclones and anticyclones (anticyclone), respectively. They rotate counterclockwise around lows in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise around those in the Southern Hemisphere. Similarly, wind systems rotate around the centres of highs in the opposite direction.In the middle and upper troposphere, the pressure systems are organized in a sequence of high-pressure ridges and low-pressure troughs, rather than in the closed, roughly circular systems nearer the surface of the Earth. They have a wavelike motion and interact to form a rather complex series of ridges and troughs. The largest of the wave patterns are the so-called standing waves that have three or four ridges and a corresponding number of troughs in a broad band in middle latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. The westerlies of the Southern Hemisphere are much less strongly affected by standing disturbances. Associated with these long standing waves are the short waves (several hundred kilometres in wavelength) called traveling waves. Such traveling waves form the upper parts of near-surface cyclones and anticyclones to which they are linked, thus guiding their movement and development.At high latitudes the winds are generally easterly near the ground. In low, tropical, and equatorial latitudes, the northeasterly trade winds north of the intertropical convergence zone (ICZ), or thermal equator, and the southeasterly trade winds south of the ICZ move toward the ICZ, which migrates north and south with the seasonal position of the Sun. Vertically, winds then rise and create towering cumulonimbus clouds and heavy rain on either side of the ICZ, which marks a narrow belt of near calms known as the doldrums. The winds then move poleward near the top of the troposphere before sinking again in the subtropical belts in each hemisphere. From here, winds again move toward the Equator as trade winds. These gigantic cells with overturning air in each of the hemispheres in low latitudes are known as the Hadley cells (Hadley cell). In the mid-latitudes, oppositely rotating wind systems called Ferrel cells (Ferrel cell) carry surface air poleward and upper tropospheric air toward the Hadley cells. The three-dimensional pattern of winds over the Earth, known as general circulation, is responsible for the fundamental latitudinal structure of pressure and air movement and, hence, of climates.On a smaller scale are the local winds, systems that are associated with specific geographic locations and reflect the influence of topographic features. The most common of these local wind systems are the sea and land breezes, mountain and valley breezes, foehn winds (also called chinook, or Santa Ana, winds), and katabatic winds. Local winds exert a pronounced influence on local climate and are themselves affected by local weather conditions.Wind speeds and gustiness are generally strongest by day when the heating of the ground by the Sun causes overturning of the air, the descending currents conserving the angular momentum of high-altitude winds. By night, the gustiness dies down and winds are generally lighter.* * *
Universalium. 2010.