[Variant of WINCH sb.1 But cf. LG. win(n)s small capstan, Du. wins winch.]
1. = WINCH sb.1 1, 3.
1688. R. Holme, Armoury, III. v. 272/1. When the Spinner hath drawn out his Rope Yarn…, then it is taken from the Wheele Spindle, and Wound upon the Wince.
1829. Good’s Study Med. (ed. 3), IV. 52. The human frame is, hence, a barrel-organ … and life is the music…. So long as either the vital or the mechanical instrument is duly wound up by a regular supply of food or of the wince, so long the music will continue.
1837. J. Kirkbride, Northern Angler, 66. He must keep his right-hand constantly on the wince of the reel.
2. Dyeing. A reel or roller placed over the division between two vats so that a fabric spread upon it may be let down into one or the other. Also attrib.
1839. Ure, Dict. Arts, 227. After 48 hours suspension [the calico] is to be washed in water at 170° containing some chalk, by the wince apparatus.
1852. Abridgm. Specif. Patents, Bleaching, etc. (1859), 374. The fabric may be caused to pass several times round these winces before it leaves the cistern.
1875. Knight, Dict. Mech., 2777/1. The tanks are wince-pots.
