Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(a) to end up, to find oneself somewhere.

1611		J. Cook Greenes Tu Quoque Scene xix: I perceive we shall wind up all wrong.
1830		W.T. Moncrieff Heart of London III iii: I served my apprenticeship in Bridewell [...] found my self fettered in the Clink, and went to wind up all in Newgate!
1845		‘A Week in Oxford’ in Bell’s Life in Sydney 25 Oct. 4/3: Where we ‘wound up’ that night I am oblivious.
1869		W. Bradwood O.V.H. III 195: We shall wind-up Wednesday week at my house.
1880		Bulletin (Sydney) 13 Nov. 9/1: Then the whole concern winds up with a free fight.
1885		Observer and Freelance (Wellington) 29 Aug. 9/4: Molly will wind up with ‘Things we can’t do openly we do upon the sly’.
c.1895		F. Norris Vandover and the Brute (1914) 47: What do you say that we all go to every joint in town, and wind up at the Turkish baths?
1905		E.W. Hornung A Thief in the Night (1992) 409: Besides, after a whole night in your old haunts, Bunny, it’s only in order to wind up in Northumberland Avenue.
1914		R. Lardner You Know Me Al (1984) 38: Just once you wound up with a man on but otherwise you was all O.K.
1922		Joyce Ulysses 611: At all events he wound up by concluding, eschewing for the nonce hidebound precedent, a cup of Epps’s cocoa and a shakedown for the night plus the use of a rug or two and overcoat doubled into a pillow.
1928		M.C. Sharpe Chicago May (1929) 257: In general, these operations begin away from the woman’s ‘home’ — and wind up there.
1938		W. Winchell ‘On Broadway’ 23 Nov. [synd. col.] She wound up with $1,500.
1946		Mezzrow & Wolfe Really the Blues 4: Bow Gistensohn shot it out with his best pal [...] and wound up in the morgue.
1957		Kerouac On The Road (1972) 210: We’re going to wind up in jail if we don’t get out of here.
1968		N. Heard Howard Street 27: Which [...] could mean that he would wind up being a pimp, or opening a tavern.
1975		N. De Mille Smack Man (1991) 136: If that was the case the bad junk wouldn’t only be winding up in prosses.
1988		P. Califia Macho Sluts 32: The two combatants wound up leaving the woman they had been fighting over to fend for herself.
1999		E. Bunker Mr Blue 70: I just hope you don’t wind up next door to me.
2000		Hip-Hop Connection Jan.–Feb. 46: And if you wind up in my car I’m going to shoot your fucking ass – anger!
2008		D. Sedaris When You’re Engulfed in Flames 41: if she’d forecast thirty years ago that I’d wind up having to take care of her, I would have out my head in the oven.

(b) to bring (something) to a conclusion.

1722		Benefit of Farting 8: I shall therefore wind up my bottom, and conclude.
1786		J. O’Keeffe Wicklow Mountains 23: I’ll go and tell Rosa, that winds him up with her, she’s so honest.
1797		‘T.B. Jr’ Pettyfogger Dramatized I vi: I’ll wind up my affairs, and quit the common law.
1801		C. Dibdin Yngr Song Smith 72: And Jack, just to wind up the story, / Sprung the leak of despair, and so swig’d at the grog.
1808		B. Bradshaw Hist. of Billy Bradshaw 15: After winding up the whole bottom, after the discharge of my fine [...] I was very nearly a clear man in life again.
1821		J. Burrowes Life in St George’s Fields 19: He had yet another treat in view, by way of winding up their excursion in pursuit of Life.
1838		Dickens Oliver Twist (1966) 349: Two half-quarterns of brans; pound of best fresh; piece of double Glo’ster; and to wind up all, some of the richest sort you ever lushed!
1848		Thackeray Vanity Fair III 178: Scape [...] went out to Calcutta to wind up the affairs of the house.
1850		‘Ned Buntline’ G’hals of N.Y. 7: The bar-keeper, who now gave a gentle hint to the effect that it was high time for him to wind up for the night.
1860		Bell’s Life in Sydney 24 Nov. 3/1: [He] was not justified by any of the statutes in placing him in a position that would in all probability ‘wind him up’.
1861		(con. 1840s–50s) H. Mayhew London Labour and London Poor I 365/1: The numbers fell off until it was thought best to ‘wind up the concern.’.
1863		G.A. Sala Breakfast in Bed 226: I used to wind up with a pipe of bird’s-eye.
1874		J. Greenwood Wilds of London (1881) 100: After paying a visit to all the minor dragons, ‘wound up’ by diving into Maiden Lane, and obtaining an introduction to the Old Dragon Coal Hole.
1884		(con. c.1840) ‘Mark Twain’ Huckleberry Finn 17: Now the way that the book winds up is this: Tom and me found the money that the robbers hid in the cave, and it made us rich.
1894		Era 21 July 14a: Her ‘Little Tin Soldier’ song winds up her turn very successfully.
1898		Binstead & Wells Pink ’Un and Pelican 183: He greeted the ‘bad egg’ quite boisterously, winding up with:— ‘Lor! I on’y saw the old gentleman las’ week; ’ow he ages!’.
1901		Bulletin (Sydney) 2 Nov. 16/2: Step up to the house, me boy. Me daughter, Cis, married Tom Biles to-day, and it’s a dance we are havin’ to wind things up.
1919		J. Buchan Mr Standfast (1930) 709: At Pontarlier he had become an American bagman of Swiss parentage, returning to wind up his father’s estate.
1923		Wodehouse Inimitable Jeeves 171: With a terrific triumph to wind up with.
1938		X. Herbert Capricornia (1939) 444: You see it’s about time to wind up, I reckon. Too muchee long time eatin’ and drinkin’ and kickin’ up hell’s delight no good.
1943		‘Henry Green’ Caught (2001) 161: Shall we wind up with a round of shorts?
1947		I. Shulman Amboy Dukes 163: Wind it up [...] before you get us in a jam.
1952		C. Hamilton Men of the Und. 107: The gangster who winds up his career crumpled in an alley.
1960		C. MacInnes Mr Love and Justice (1964) 45: If you want to mess around with any other girl, do please just tell me and we’ll wind it up.
1978		P. Theroux Picture Palace 30: I’m going to wind it up. Call it a day.
1982		G. Newbold Big Huey 85: It used to make me feel like a bit of a policeman, having to tell everyone it was about time we wound things up.
1996		J. Cameron It Was An Accident 7: Fucking wind it up George I’m getting GBH of the earhole here.
2000		Guardian 6 Jan. 1: The princess’s brother, Earl Spencer, has called for it to be wound up.
2012		(con. 1943) G.S. Manson Irish Fandango [ebook] [J]ust as they were winding up Jack dropped one more [question] in the pond.

(c) to result; to come to a conclusion.

1852		‘The Cadger’s Ball’ in Farmer Musa Pedestris (1896) 147: They all declar’d, so help their never, / They’d vind up vith a stunnin’ ball!
1865		Leaves from Diary of Celebrated Burglar 5/1: Such meetings don’t always end as they begin, it being customary to wind up with a general ‘slog’ or at least a private ‘scrapp.’.
1885		Bulletin (Sydney) 4 Apr. 8/1: The pair then ‘set to partners’ in a merry style, smart counter-hitting with little benefit on either side being the order of the day, the fourth round winding up with an extra smart rally that brought the entertainment to a close, all hands departing thoroughly satisfied, and hoping soon to see a repetition.
1899–1900		C.L. Cullen Tales of the Ex-Tanks 46: There was one of these here talky sports that knew all about how the thing was going to wind up.
1928		M.C. Sharpe Chicago May (1929) 63: Well, it wound up by me giving the bloke the price of a room and a few bucks.

(a) to cause someone to become annoyed.

1910		Wodehouse Psmith in the City (1993) 83: The man is wound up. He means to get it off his chest if it snows.
1956		J. Curtis Look Long Upon a Monkey 133: He wanted to convince Mark and he was well wound up.
1964		L. Hansberry Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window in Three Negro Plays (1969) I ii: sidney [winding up big ]: Oh no ... Come on, David! Don’t start that jazz with me tonight.
1977		G.F. Newman A Prisoner’s Tale 72: When he could wind Brian Smith up for whatever reason.
1986		J. Campbell Gate Fever 33: By punching his hand through a window in frustration after an argument with a screw. ‘Windin’ me up.’.
1999		Indep. Rev. 17 Dec. 16: Are you trying to wind me up?
2003		N. Griffiths Stump 213: You fuckin wound me up, you can fuckin bring me down.
2009		L. McIlvanney All the Colours 43: I wanted to wind Derek up, force him to intervene.
2012		(con. 1980s) I. Welsh Skagboys 84: Ak ken she’s just flirtin wi us tae wind up Forrester.
2020		W. Boyd Trio 245: Talbot wondered if Kincade tried to wind him up deliberately. [...] It was tiresome.
2021		A. Parks April Dead 124: ‘Think they were just trying to wind the boys up’.

(b) to tease, to misinform, usu. maliciously.

[1707		Farquhar ‘To a Gentleman who had his Pocket Pick’d [...] by a Mistriss’ in A. Carpenter Verse in Eng in 18C Ireland (1998) 65: So wound you up to her own liking, / And stole the Watch while you were striking].
1967		N. Dunn Poor Cow 102: When I used to look at men it was to make you jealous, I used to love winding you up.
1974		G.F. Newman You Flash Bastard 21: First Sneed had wound up the gang boss by confirming the rumours about imminent moves against him.
1989		(con. 1950s–60s) G. Tremlett Little Legs 149: There had been strangers in there [i.e. a pub] and he’d been winding them up.
1999		K. Sampson Powder 349: He couldn’t be sure whether the DJ was winding him up [...] with news of Sensira’s impending megastardom in the USA.
2005		H. Mantel Beyond Black 272: Colette said, ‘Are you winding me up?’.
2010		K. Richards Life 180: Many of the songs we wrote around this time had what you might call anti-girl lyrics [...] Maybe we were winding them up.