Windlass, or Windless
Windlass, or Windless a
machine used to raise huge weights withal, as guns, stones, anchors,
&c. also to wind up or draw things out of a well. It is a roller of
wood square at each end, through which is either cross holes for hand-spikes or
staves across, to turn it round; by this means it draws a cord, one end of
which is fastened to some weight which it raises up. They are used for
Guns,
and about
Dutch
Mortars, to help to elevate them.
Definition taken from The Universal Etymological English Dictionary, edited by Nathan Bailey (1736)
Wence [in Kent] * Wontlings