Definition of "winch"

winch¹

/wɪnt͡ʃ/

noun
plural winches
1. A machine consisting of a drum on an axle, a friction brake or ratchet and pawl, and a crank handle or prime mover (often an electric or hydraulic motor), with or without gearing, to give increased mechanical advantage when hoisting or hauling on a rope or cable.
2. (nautical) A hoisting machine used for loading or discharging cargo, or for hauling in lines. (FM 55-501).
  Quotations
  It runs on clattering steel tracks; the driver sits in a cab over the tracks, operating the controls that rotate the arm and turn the winch.
  2013, J. M. Coetzee, chapter 27, in The Childhood of Jesus, Melbourne, Australia: The Text Publishing Company, page 267
3. A wince (machine used in dyeing or steeping cloth).
4. A kick, as of an animal, from impatience or uneasiness.
5. (Nigeria, slang) Witch.
  Quotations
  the mule […] being likewise frighted by that terrible blow, ran away as fast as it could about the fields, and within two or three winches overthrew him to the ground
  1612–1620, [Miguel de Cervantes], Thomas Shelton, transl., The History of the Valorous and Wittie Knight-errant Don-Quixote of the Mancha. […], London: […] William Stansby, for Ed[ward] Blount and W. Barret
verb
third-person singular simple present winches, present participle winching, simple past and past participle winched
1. To use a winch

/wɪnt͡ʃ/