Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s Dictionary

Wind|breaker /w I ndbre I kə ^r / (Windbreakers ) N‑COUNT A Windbreaker is a warm casual jacket. [mainly AM , TRADEMARK ]

wind|fall /w I ndfɔːl/ (windfalls )

1 N‑COUNT A windfall is a sum of money that you receive unexpectedly or by luck, for example if you win a lottery.

2 N‑COUNT A windfall is a fruit, especially an apple, that has fallen from a tree.

wind farm /w I nd fɑː ^r m/ (wind farms ) N‑COUNT A wind farm is a place where windmills are used to convert the power of the wind into electricity.

wind in|stru|ment /w I nd I nstrʊmənts/ (wind instruments ) N‑COUNT A wind instrument is a musical instrument that you blow into in order to produce sounds, such as a flute, a clarinet, or a recorder.

wind|lass /w I ndləs/ (windlasses ) N‑COUNT A windlass is a mechanical device for lifting heavy objects, which uses a motor to pull a rope or chain around a cylinder.

wind|less /w I ndləs/ ADJ If the air is windless , or if it is a windless day, it is very calm and still.

wind|mill /w I ndm I l/ (windmills ) N‑COUNT A windmill is a building with long pieces of wood on the outside which turn around as the wind blows and provide energy for a machine that crushes grain. A windmill is also a similar structure that is used to convert the power of the wind into electricity.

win|dow ◆◆◇ /w I ndoʊ/ (windows )

1 N‑COUNT A window is a space in the wall of a building or in the side of a vehicle, which has glass in it so that light can come in and you can see out. □  He stood at the window, moodily staring out. □  The room felt very hot and she wondered why someone did not open a window. □  …my car window.

2 N‑COUNT A window is a large piece of glass along the front of a shop, behind which some of the goods that the shop sells are displayed. □  I stood for a few moments in front of the nearest shop window.

3 N‑COUNT A window is a glass-covered opening above a counter, for example in a bank, post office, railway station, or museum, which the person serving you sits behind. □  The woman at the ticket window told me that the admission fee was $17.50.

4 N‑COUNT On a computer screen, a window is one of the work areas that the screen can be divided into. [COMPUTING ]

5 N‑COUNT [usu sing] If you have a window in your diary for something, or if you can make a window for it, you are free at a particular time and can do it then. □ [+ in ] Tell her I've got a window in my diary later on this week.

6 → see also French window , picture window , rose window

7 PHRASE If you say that something such as a plan or a particular way of thinking or behaving has gone out of the window or has flown out of the window , you mean that it has disappeared completely. □  By now all logic had gone out of the window.

8 PHRASE If you say that there is a window of opportunity for something, you mean that there is an opportunity to do something but that this opportunity will only last for a short time and so it needs to be taken advantage of quickly. [JOURNALISM ] □ [+ for ] The king said there was now a window of opportunity for peace.

wi n|dow box (window boxes ) N‑COUNT A window box is a long narrow container on a shelf at the bottom of a window and is used for growing plants.

wi ndow-dressing also window dressing

1 N‑UNCOUNT Window-dressing is the skill of arranging objects attractively in a window, especially a shop window, or the way in which they are arranged.

2 N‑UNCOUNT If you refer to something as window-dressing , you are critical of it because it is done in order to create a good impression and to prevent people from realizing the real or more unpleasant nature of someone's activities. [DISAPPROVAL ] □  The measures are little more than window dressing.

wi n|dow frame (window frames ) N‑COUNT A window frame is a frame around the edges of a window, which glass is fixed into.

window|pane /w I ndoʊpe I n/ (windowpanes ) also window pane N‑COUNT A windowpane is a piece of glass in the window of a building.

wi n|dow seat (window seats )