wind down

verb

wound down also winded down; winding down; winds down

intransitive verb

1

: to draw gradually toward an end

the party was winding down

2

: relax, unwind

wind down with a good book

transitive verb

: to cause a gradual lessening of usually with the intention of bringing to an end

Synonyms

• chill
• chill out [slang]
• de-stress
• decompress
• loosen up
• mellow (out)
• relax
• unwind

Examples of wind down in a Sentence

not being one for alcoholic beverages, I prefer to wind down with a cup of tea every night

Recent Examples on the Web

In the images, Affleck is seen sitting with his car window wound down while looking out at the scenes before him. —Tommy Tuberville, Newsweek, 8 Jan. 2025

Smith has been winding down his cases against the former president since Trump was reelected in November, due to a longstanding Department of Justice policy prohibiting the prosecution of a sitting president. —Pierre Thomas, ABC News, 8 Jan. 2025

The snow is expected to largely wind down by Tuesday morning, the NWS says. —Antonio Pequeño Iv, Forbes, 5 Jan. 2025

Indeed, the Pentagon has been winding down a post-Jan. 6 effort to root out extremists in the military, given the many gray areas such an effort revealed. —Henry Gass, The Christian Science Monitor, 2 Jan. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1952, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1