Definition

1. Noun:
   • A structure with sails or vanes that turn in the wind: A windmill is a machine or structure that converts the energy of wind into rotational energy by means of vanes called sails or blades. Traditionally, this energy was used for grinding grain or pumping water.
   • A generator powered by wind: In modern usage, a windmill often refers to a wind turbine used to generate electricity.

Examples of Usage

• Noun:
  • The old farm had a traditional windmill for grinding wheat.
  • Many countries are investing in windmills to produce clean energy.
  • The landscape was dotted with the spinning blades of windmills.

Advanced Usage

• "To tilt at windmills": To fight imaginary enemies or attack non-existent problems. This idiom originates from Miguel de Cervantes' novel , where the protagonist attacks windmills, believing them to be giants.
  • He's always arguing about minor details; he's just tilting at windmills.
• "Windmill slam" (in card games): A specific, often showy, method of playing a winning card in some games.
  • He won the trick with a dramatic windmill slam of the ace.

Variants and Related Words

• Wind turbine (n): A modern, electrically generating windmill.
  • The wind farm consists of dozens of tall wind turbines.
• Windpump (n): A windmill used specifically for pumping water.
  • The windpump provided water for the cattle in the remote field.

Synonyms

• Wind generator: A device that generates power from wind.
• Aerogenerator: Another term for a wind-driven electrical generator.

Related Phrases

• To have windmills in one's head: To have fanciful or impractical ideas. (Less common idiom)
  • With his new invention scheme, he's got windmills in his head again.

Related Idioms

• Tilt at windmills: As described in Advanced Usage.
  • Politicians sometimes seem to be tilting at windmills instead of solving real issues.

Noun

1. generator that extracts usable energy from winds
2. a mill that is powered by the wind