How to Use winch in a Sentence

winch

1 of 2 noun
  • Heck, the winch even lifted it up in a tree!
    — Caleb Jacobs, The Drive, 8 Apr. 2026
  • Crow’s feet are smoothed with the winch of a hair elastic.
    — Marci Robin, Allure, 23 Sep. 2025
  • Video from the scene also showed officers pulling a black bag out of the trunk using a winch.
    — Joe Kottke, NBC news, 17 Sep. 2025
  • Each of these visits is an elaborate production of cranes, winches, cables and ropes.
    — New York Times, 12 Feb. 2026
  • The students sit at a computer watching the data stream in and radioing the crew to say when to stop the winch and when to reverse.
    — New York Times, 12 Feb. 2026
  • The Tension Buoy is built around a compact winch mechanism positioned at the top of the buoy.
    — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 7 Oct. 2025
  • As Benz keeps the chopper steady, Tate mans the winch, helping to lower Buxton to the forest below.
    — Conor Wight, CBS News, 9 Apr. 2026
  • That ship is equipped with a 150-ton crane, a 10-kilometer fiber optic winch, and a helicopter landing platform.
    — Jonathan M. Gitlin, ArsTechnica, 16 Apr. 2026
  • With huge airbags acting as rollers, a series of mechanical winches began dragging the vessel more than 550 feet up a temporary slipway.
    — Oscar Holland, CNN Money, 21 Aug. 2025
  • Conventional aerostats require a sizable ground crew, upwards of 10 or more people, to operate the tethers and winches needed to send the aerostat up to the necessary altitude and bring it back down.
    — Tracy Staedter, IEEE Spectrum, 4 Apr. 2018
  • And further options, including a snorkel, winches, lights, and storage solutions to mount to the roof and side accessory rails, only enhance the impression that the Quartermaster belongs in the dirt.
    — Michael Van Runkle, Robb Report, 24 Sep. 2025
  • The steel front bumper sports a Warn winch and 7-inch TYRI lights, which are backed up by 5-inch A-pillar pods and three 12-inch LED bars up top.
    — Caleb Jacobs, The Drive, 26 Mar. 2026
  • This could be accomplished by multiple robotic explorers forming a communications chain down into the caves, ranging from wheeled rovers that carefully navigate down each step, to climbing robots lowered by winches or aerial rotorcraft that can fly in and out of the skylights.
    — Keith Cooper, Space.com, 24 Nov. 2025
  • The Toy Hauler bed is sized to accommodate up to three dirt bikes or an ATV and includes a 6,500-lb (2,948-kg) winch mounted at the front of the deck to make for easy loading.
    — New Atlas, 22 Aug. 2025
  • Authorities said the helicopter was called to Moogerah Peaks National Park, Australia, after a hiker fell and was hurt, prompting paramedics to be lowered by winch to provide treatment and extract two people.
    — Brittany Miller, FOXNews.com, 1 May 2026
  • The company built an even meaner Passport HRC concept for SEMA last year with an integrated winch, more aggressive lift, and extended skidplates.
    — Adam Ismail, The Drive, 8 Jan. 2026
  • Credit also goes to the company Flying by Foy, a leading specialist in aerial effects, for the rigging, tracks and winches, and aerial designers Gwyneth Larsen and Billy Mulholland.
    — ABC News, 1 June 2026
  • The two-door, three-person Can-Am Defender Limited and the four-door, six-person Defender Max Limited have 82-horsepower engines, power steering, tow hitches with a 2,500-pound towing capacity, winches, air conditioning and heating, a full hard roof and a three-position tilt-up glass windshield.
    — Steve Waters, Miami Herald, 12 Sep. 2025

winch

2 of 2 verb
  • The movers deposited him in the pool and winched open a gate at the far end.
    — Andy Newman, New York Times, 16 May 2018
  • Her main function is to winch things into and out of the water.
    — David Axe, Forbes, 22 Apr. 2022
  • Cane poles aren’t just for winching trophy bream out of the water.
    — T. Edward Nickens, Field & Stream, 19 Mar. 2020
  • Loading a dart, winching back the bows, and taking aim means a lousy rate of fire.
    — William Gurstelle, Popular Mechanics, 6 May 2019
  • That keeps it smooth at any speed without sacrificing the torque needed to winch on big fish.
    — Pete Robbins, Field & Stream, 20 Mar. 2023
  • The boys winched the carcass up to the Jeep and likely had backstraps for supper.
    — Pj Delhomme, Outdoor Life, 1 Jan. 2020
  • The Scots saw the gigantic beams and basket winched into place.
    — William Gurstelle, Popular Mechanics, 1 May 2017
  • With one of those, if a component fails while winching, the line will simply fall to the ground without killing you.
    — Wes Siler, Outside Online, 19 June 2018
  • An employee of a business can now take a Wing bag and put it onto a hook which is winched up to the drone.
    — David Grossman, Popular Mechanics, 17 Oct. 2017
  • The jungle was so dense that the rescuers’ helicopter had nowhere to land and had to winch the children up by rope, one by one.
    — Patrick Smith, NBC News, 14 June 2023
  • The 21-year-old Air Force medic chose to drop down and help winch soldiers up to the chopper.
    — Mark Kennedy, Detroit Free Press, 23 Jan. 2020
  • Make sure the boat’s drain plug is in place, and that all winch/transom tie-down straps are removed before backing the rig into the water.
    — Matt Williams, Dallas News, 1 July 2022
  • The body, found near a stream about 1½ miles from the resort, was winched up and then flown by helicopter to a hospital, police said.
    — Reuters, The Mercury News, 13 Aug. 2019
  • The two were winched to the helicopter and transported to a Swedish hospital but later died.
    — Chris Pandolfo, Fox News, 1 July 2023
  • On shore, winches like the ones that raise and lower the sails can also generate electricity to charge cellphones.
    — Jimmy Golen, The Christian Science Monitor, 18 May 2018
  • Marshalls can be seen running to his side before the Mitsubishi is winched onto a recovery truck and taken away.
    — Fox News, 11 Apr. 2018
  • For some expeditions, scientists plunged boxes to the bottom and winched them back to the surface, much like an arcade claw game.
    — Dino Grandoni, Anchorage Daily News, 26 May 2023
  • When the rescues began at last, at least one child who was plucked out of the car could be seen in video footage hanging at the end of a cable as he was winched up to the aircraft.
    — Riaz Khan and Munir Ahmed, Anchorage Daily News, 22 Aug. 2023
  • Slowing to a halt, the vessel sways and sea gulls circle while the traps are winched on board and emptied, with shiny black lobsters and muddy brown crabs pulled free and stored on deck.
    — Stephen Castle Andrew Testa, New York Times, 7 Apr. 2023
  • Hazra and the guides made their way to the icy landing spot above Camp 2, where a helicopter winched Hazra to Base Camp.
    — John Branch, Anchorage Daily News, 19 Dec. 2017
  • The man was winched up by the helicopter and immediately flown to Kathmandu, followed by the body of the woman.
    — Binaj Gurubacharya, chicagotribune.com, 26 Apr. 2017
  • German military personnel and fire crews were still working to winch cars and lorries off a submerged highway on Sunday.
    — Washington Post, 18 July 2021
  • The winch-and-ramp combo might not be able to launch drones much heavier than a TB-2/3 unless the drone itself packs more horsepower.
    — David Axe, Forbes, 10 May 2021
  • The 25-year-old was winched from the forest by a rescue helicopter which took her to the town of Tully where she was assessed at a hospital.
    — Fox News, 7 June 2018
  • Once the fighters' mission was complete, the 747 would winch them back aboard, where the pilots could rest and even sleep in their own quarters while the planes were refueled and rearmed.
    — Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, 8 Sep. 2020
  • An officer was lowered from the helicopter and, just after midnight, safely winched the cyclist out — bringing the tense situation to an end.
    — Ashley Vega, PEOPLE, 8 Apr. 2026
  • As a tow truck came to winch the car out of the canal, Wilson's father, notified of the accident, began cruising the nearby streets, looking for his missing son.
    — Kevin Conley, Town & Country, 24 Dec. 2012
  • Many of Lewis' rescues involve winching victims back out of the vertical pits that distinguish Southeastern caves.
    — Bo Emerson, ajc, 10 July 2018
  • Before heading out, some fishermen pick up boxes from the island's fishing companies to pack their catch which, in the capital of Nuuk, is winched from the boat to the fish factory.
    — ABC News, 3 Mar. 2026
  • The brute-simple method, which combines a winch-and-pulley system with an bow ramp, could help the Turkish navy transform its new assault ship Anadolu into the world’s first true drone aircraft carrier.
    — David Axe, Forbes, 10 May 2021

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'winch.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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