Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. drunk.

1842		Manchester Courier 5 Mar. 3/2: Drunk— [...] Top-heavy [...] Wound up.
1847		J.M. Field Drama in Pokerville 147: Mr. Twirl was wound up, used up, done up, in short he was very drunk!
1889		Northampton Mercury 19 Oct. 9/1: ‘Wound up’ now, he could have kept himself going [...] until dawn.

2. (also wound up like an eight-day clock) annoyed, tense and irritated.

1919		‘Bartimeus’ ‘The Wooing of Mouldy Jakes’ in Awfully Big Adventure 16: I only get wound up like this once in a blue moon.
1942		W.R. Burnett Quick Brown Fox 39: ‘Oh, that was nothing. That was mild. You should see me when I really get wound up’.
1951		D. Stivens Jimmy Brockett 142: Sadie was all wound up.
1957		R. Prather Always Leave ’Em Dying 122: I’m wound up like an eight-day clock.
1967		P. Thomas Down These Mean Streets (1970) 112: I heard her trying to calm her down. But she was just getting wound up.
1970		L. Sanders Anderson Tapes 67: It’s just that I want to make a big score [...] That’s why I’m wound up so tight.
1992		Eble Campus Sl. Apr. 10: wound up – excited, frustrated.
2000		(con. 1940s–60s) Décharné Straight from the Fridge Dad 204: Wound up like an eight-day clock Uptight, tense, stressed out.
2000		N. Griffiths Grits 275: Everyone else’d get pissed off an shout me down an ad get rerly wound up an the whole thing ud become a right fuckin pain inny arse.
2010		K. Richards Life 49: Otherwise you’d get the old lady wound up about ‘Who did it?’.