Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. anxiety, nerves, a state of worry.

1917		F. Dunham diary 26 Aug. Long Carry (1970) 74: Our boys didn’t relish this job one bit, and all had a slight touch of ‘wind-up.’.
1919		S. Graham A Private in the Guards 62: You’ll see wind up in the depot as never before.
1920		Rickenbacker in Harper’s Pictorial Library of the World War X 262: Evidently he got ‘wind up,’ for after a few minutes climbing he sheered off towards Germany.
1954		J. Phelan Tramp at Anchor 157: Alec Mason came in the same evening with a bad attack of wind-up.
1969		(con. 1912) A. Baron King Dido 232: ‘Now look, Dido, you don’t give me the wind-up. You talk too much to be a real ’ard nut’.

2. (N.Z. prison) an amphetamine-based drug.

2001

D. Looser Boobslang [U. Canterbury D.Phil. thesis] 203/2: wind-up n. /waind/ = speed sense 1.