windmill

I. noun Date: 14th century 1. a. a mill or machine operated by the wind usually acting on oblique vanes or sails that radiate from a horizontal shaft; especially a wind-driven water pump or electric generator b. the wind-driven wheel of a windmill 2. something that resembles or suggests a windmill; especially a calisthenic exercise that involves alternately lowering each outstretched hand to touch the toes of the opposite foot 3. [from the episode in Don Quixote by Cervantes in which the hero attacks windmills under the illusion that they are giants] an imaginary wrong, evil, or opponent — usually used in the phrase to tilt at windmills II. verb Date: 1914 transitive verb to cause to move like a windmill intransitive verb to move like a windmill; especially to spin from the force of wind