To end up in a situation, to tease someone, to close a business, or to raise a car window.
To finish in a place or situation, or to make fun of someone, or to close something down.
4 meanings, ordered from most common to least. Color-coded by CEFR level.
To find yourself in an unexpected or unplanned situation as a result of a process.
"He kept making bad financial decisions and wound up in serious debt."
You wind up with a certain type of person in your life.
— Nora Ephron, 'I Feel Bad About My Neck', 2006
(British English, informal) To tease or irritate someone deliberately, often as a joke.
"Stop winding me up — there's no way the meeting was cancelled."
To formally close and liquidate a company or organisation.
"The directors voted to wind up the company after years of losses."
To raise a car window using a handle or mechanism.
"She wound the window up before the rainstorm hit."
To coil a spring tighter — this underlies the senses of tension and activation, while the 'end up' sense is more idiomatic.
To finish in a place or situation, or to make fun of someone, or to close something down.
One of the most versatile phrasal verbs in English. British English uses 'wind someone up' to mean teasing or annoying; this sense is not standard in American English. Context is essential to determine the correct meaning.
Natural word combinations native speakers use most often.
The five tense forms you'll use most often.
Listen to native speakers using "wind up" in real YouTube videos — click a clip to watch it on Looplines.
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