Forms: 1 wince, 4–7 (9) wynch, (3–5 wenche, 4–6 wynche, 6 winche, 7 wintch, 9 winsh), 7– winch. [Late OE. wince:—OTeut. *wiŋkjo-:—*weŋkjo-, f. Indo-Eur. root weŋg-, repr. also by WINK v.1 (Cf. WINK sb.2)]
1. A reel, roller, or pulley.
c. 1050. Voc., in Wr.-Wülcker, 416/6. Gigrillus [= girgillus], wince.
1295. Acc. Exch. K. R., 5/7 (P.R.O.). In vno velamine empto .vj. li. iiij. d. In Wenches emptis ad idem. iiij s. vj. d.
1384. For. Acc. 20 C dorso (P.R.O.). j wynche ferri pro vna petra vertibili. Ibid. j gross[a] wynche ferri pro factura cordarum.
1511–2. Act 3 Hen. VIII., c. 6 § 1. That the byer of Wollen clothes … shall not … cause to be drawen in lenght … the same clothes … by teyntor or wynche or by eny other meane.
1563. Golding, Cæsar, VII. (1565), 232. With slinges that went wyth wynches [orig. fundis librilibus] … & wyth pellets, they put the Galles in feare.
1611. Cotgr., Tournoir,… the vice, or winch of a Presse.
b. spec. An angler’s reel.
1662. R. Venables, Exper. Angler, iv. 44. You may buy your Trowle ready made,… onely let it have a winch to wind it up withall.
1760. Sir J. Hawkins, Walton’s Angler, 139, note. The winch must be screwed on to the butt of your rod.
1867. F. Francis, Bk. Angling, i. 13. Your winch should hold forty or fifty yards of fine line.
c. Naut. A small machine used for making ropes and spun-yarn; † the quantity of yarn so made.
1640. in Birch, Charters of London (1887), 220. For a winch of cable yarn … 0s. 4d.
1772–84, etc. [see SPUN-YARN 2].
1794. Rigging & Seamanship, I. 90. Winch, to make or twist spun-yarn with is made of 8 spokes, 4 at each end, and 4 wooden pins 15 inches long driven through the end of them.
† 2. A well-wheel (turned by a crank); hence, a well. Obs. (Cf. dial. winch-well a deep well, and WINK sb.2, quot. 1886.)
c. 1440. Pallad. on Husb., I. 426. In stede of welle or wenche [orig. fons … aut puteus] haue a sisterne. Ibid., III. 894. The water cleer Of cisterne or of wynche. Ibid., IX. 120. The wynchis when we delue [orig. in fodiendis pulcis].
1556. Withals, Dict. (1562), 47 b/1. The wynch or wheele of the well.
1580. Hollyband, Treas. Fr. Tong. La trieule,… the beame or rounde wood whereabout the cord of a well is winded, some do call it a winch.
1632. J. Hayward, trans. Biondi’s Eromena, 195. An old well or deepe wintch … boild all the night long.
3. The cranked handle by means of which the axis of a revolving machine is turned.
1660. R. D’Acres, Water-drawing, 11. Winches or Cranks of Wood or Iron are … fitted to mens hands, thereby to make a round motion.
1683. Moxon, Mech. Exerc., Printing, xi. ¶ 16. On the Square Pin is fitted a Winch somewhat in form like a Jack-winch.
1774. Phil. Trans., LXIV. 390. After about ninety or an hundred turns of the winch.
1787. Imison, Treat. Mech. Powers, 46. The wheel is turned by means of a winch fix’d on the axle of a trundle.
1801. Strutt, Sports & Past., III. v. 209. One of them turned the winch of an organ which he carried at his back.
1834. Fearnside, Tombleson’s Thames, 31. By Pinkle Lock and Weir, to which no toll-house being attached, it is necessary for the aquatic tourist to be provided with a winch to open the gates.
1843. Penny Cycl., XXVII. 436/1. Winch and axle is a machine constituting a small windlass.
1874. Hardy, Far fr. Mad. Crowd, xx. I’ll turn the winch of the grindstone.
4. A hoisting or hauling apparatus consisting essentially of a horizontal drum round which a rope passes and a crank by which it is turned.
1577. Googe, trans. Heresbach’s Husb., 11 b. The smaller sort [of husbandry necessaries] … Hammers, Chippe Axes, Winches, Pulleys, Wheeles [etc.].
1674. Blount, Glossogr. (ed. 4), Winch, a pulling or skrewing Engin.
1688. R. Holme, Armoury, III. xviii. (Roxb.), 139/2. A Hand screw, or screw engine: or Ghynne or Wynch.
1706. Phillips (ed. Kersey), Winches, a kind of Engine to draw Barges, &c. up a River against the Stream.
1769. Falconer, Dict. Marine (1776), Winch, a cylindrical piece of timber, furnished with an axis,… turned about by means of an handle resembling that of a draw-well.
1820. Scoresby, Acc. Arctic Reg., II. 233. An apparatus called a ‘winch,’… for heaving the lines into the boat after the fish is … killed.
1838. J. M. Wilson’s Tales Borders, IV. 253/2. By the assistance of the wynch, the jib again rose to its former place.
1905. Times Lit. Suppl., 25 Aug., 268/1. The value of steam applied to winches and capstans.
b. In the navigation of the river Thames, a revolving apparatus at the river-side, round which a rope was wound to haul craft through difficult places; a toll levied for the use of this (abolished by the Thames Conservancy Act of 1866).
1623. Act 21 Jas. I., c. 32 § 5. For that the sayd passage from Bircot aforesayd, to the sayd Citie of Oxford, is against the streame, the Barges … must … bee haled vp by strength of men, horses, winches [etc.].
1694. Act 6 & 7 Will. & Mary, c. 16. Preamble, For the … convenience of the Navigation [of the Thames and Isis] there … are diverse Lockes Weares, Buckes Winches … and other Engines.
1754. Extr. Navig. Rolls Thames (1772), 19. The Owner of every Winch, belonging to every Lock below Reading.
1795. Jrnls. Ho. Comm., L. 125/1. Tolls … payable at the old Locks, Weirs, and Winches.
1864. Thames Narig., Tables of Tolls, July, 1. Tables of Tolls (Including Old Lock Dues and Winches), which will be taken on and from July 1, 1864.
5. Dyeing. = WINCE sb.2 2.
1791. Hamilton, Berthollet’s Dyeing, I. I. II. ii. 159. For the pieces of stuff, a winch or reel is used.
1799. G. Smith, Laboratory, I. 385. Stir it well about, and … put in your stuffs:… turn it on a winch, till you see the colour is to your mind.
1822. Imison’s Sci. & Art, II. 185. The stuffs … are drawn through them [sc. the baths] by a winch, or reel.
1876. Encycl. Brit., IV. 688/1. Mounted on a strong framework over the trough [of the dye vat] is the winch…, which by its revolutions … keeps the cloth moving down and up continuously into and out of the trough.
6. attrib.
1867. Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., *Winch-bitts, the supports near their ends.
1893. Westm. Gaz., 28 Feb., 10/3. Kemp was standing against the winch-bit.
1875. Knight, Dict. Mech., *Winch-capstan, a combination in which winch-heads are arranged on top of the capstan.
1881. E. Matheson, Aid Bk., II. 362. The lifting power in a crane is generally obtained by ordinary *winch-gear.
1825. J. Nicholson, Operat. Mechanic, 229. So that the power must act in like manner as if it were applied at a *winch-handle.
1894. Bottone, Electr. Instr., 171. It is mounted upon an iron spindle … at one end of which is a winch-handle.
1847. T. T. Stoddart, Angler’s Compan., 44. The triple gut casting-line … is intended … to be appended immediately to the *winch-line, by the trout-fisher.
1882. Standard, 26 Aug., 3/7. A man should have watched the case and given orders to the gangwayman, who, in turn, ought to have given orders to the *winchman.
1894. Times, 5 Feb., 3/3. The winchman and the bullrope man … in assisting to unload the vessel.
1883. W. C. Russell, Sea Queen, II. ii. 30. The tiny clink of *winch-pawls.
1902. How to make useful things, 10/1. A few inches from the lower end of the butt a recess is made sufficiently large to take the *winch-plate.
1831–3. Encycl. Metrop. (1845), VIII. 528/2. When one or more pieces of goods are to be dyed the *winch-reel is employed.
