"close to the wind" meaning in English

See close to the wind in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Adjective

Forms: closer to the wind [comparative], closest to the wind [superlative]
Head templates: {{en-adj|closer to the wind|sup=closest to the wind}} close to the wind (comparative closer to the wind, superlative closest to the wind)
  1. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see close to, the, wind.
    Sense id: en-close_to_the_wind-en-adj-91otQvNV
  2. Near a limit of feasibility or compliance with law or morality.
    Sense id: en-close_to_the_wind-en-adj-0oXbsb~F Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 2 37 2 23 36

Adverb

Forms: closer to the wind [comparative], closest to the wind [superlative]
Head templates: {{en-adv|closer to the wind|head=close to the wind|sup=closest to the wind}} close to the wind (comparative closer to the wind, superlative closest to the wind)
  1. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see close to, the, wind.
    Sense id: en-close_to_the_wind-en-adv-91otQvNV
  2. (nautical) In a direction almost opposite to that from which the wind is blowing Categories (topical): Nautical
    Sense id: en-close_to_the_wind-en-adv-vjym5Wsk Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 2 37 2 23 36 Topics: nautical, transport
  3. Near a limit of feasibility or compliance with law or morality.
    Sense id: en-close_to_the_wind-en-adv-0oXbsb~F Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 2 37 2 23 36

Download JSON data for close to the wind meaning in English (4.3kB)

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  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "closer to the wind",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "closest to the wind",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
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  "head_templates": [
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      "args": {
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        "sup": "closest to the wind"
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      "name": "en-adj"
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  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "senses": [
    {
      "glosses": [
        "Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see close to, the, wind."
      ],
      "id": "en-close_to_the_wind-en-adj-91otQvNV",
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          "source": "w+disamb"
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        {
          "ref": "1983, Colin Watson, Six Nuns and a Shotgun, page 167",
          "text": "I mean, I shouldn't be altogether flabbergasted if you were to tell me that there had been tax fiddles here, or even something a bit close to the wind where the play and the girls are concerned.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2000, David S. Bell, Presidential Power in Fifth Republic France, page 116",
          "text": "Coming on the heels of revelations about financial and property dealings a bit close to the wind in other sections of the Gaullist Party, the authority of the Prime Minister could not but be weakened",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Near a limit of feasibility or compliance with law or morality."
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      "id": "en-close_to_the_wind-en-adj-0oXbsb~F"
    }
  ],
  "word": "close to the wind"
}

{
  "forms": [
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      "form": "closer to the wind",
      "tags": [
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    },
    {
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      "name": "en-adv"
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  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adv",
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          "orig": "en:Nautical",
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      ],
      "glosses": [
        "In a direction almost opposite to that from which the wind is blowing"
      ],
      "id": "en-close_to_the_wind-en-adv-vjym5Wsk",
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        ],
        [
          "wind",
          "wind"
        ],
        [
          "blowing",
          "blowing"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(nautical) In a direction almost opposite to that from which the wind is blowing"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "nautical",
        "transport"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "2 37 2 23 36",
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          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
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      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1850, F. W. Cukbey., “Against All Odds”, in The Dublin University Magazine, page 306",
          "text": "Time you want a real good friend is when you're gone just a bit close to the wind, and want to be set right again.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2003, Richard K. Morgan, Altered Carbon, page 150",
          "text": "Miriam's wordplay was steering fractionally too close to the wind for my liking.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2004, James R. Acker, David C. Brody, Criminal Procedure: A Contemporary Perspective, page 422",
          "text": "This means, naturally, that a prosecutor anxious about tacking too close to the wind will disclose a favorable piece of evidence.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2011 September 26, “Warnock slams ref as Dunne own goal gifts QPR point”, in Irish Independent",
          "text": "As far as an FA charge goes, Warnock sailed closest to the wind in his initial, expansively voiced televised criticism of Oliver -- the youngest Premier League ref at 26",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
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      "glosses": [
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      "id": "en-close_to_the_wind-en-adv-0oXbsb~F"
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  "word": "close to the wind"
}
{
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    "English adverbs",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms"
  ],
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "closer to the wind",
      "tags": [
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    },
    {
      "form": "closest to the wind",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
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      "name": "en-adj"
    }
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
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        "Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see close to, the, wind."
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          "ref": "1983, Colin Watson, Six Nuns and a Shotgun, page 167",
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          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2000, David S. Bell, Presidential Power in Fifth Republic France, page 116",
          "text": "Coming on the heels of revelations about financial and property dealings a bit close to the wind in other sections of the Gaullist Party, the authority of the Prime Minister could not but be weakened",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Near a limit of feasibility or compliance with law or morality."
      ]
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  ],
  "word": "close to the wind"
}

{
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    "English adverbs",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms"
  ],
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "closer to the wind",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "closest to the wind",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
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        "1": "closer to the wind",
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      "name": "en-adv"
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  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adv",
  "senses": [
    {
      "glosses": [
        "Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see close to, the, wind."
      ],
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    },
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      "categories": [
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      "glosses": [
        "In a direction almost opposite to that from which the wind is blowing"
      ],
      "links": [
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          "nautical"
        ],
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          "direction",
          "direction"
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        ],
        [
          "wind",
          "wind"
        ],
        [
          "blowing",
          "blowing"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(nautical) In a direction almost opposite to that from which the wind is blowing"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "nautical",
        "transport"
      ]
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    {
      "categories": [
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      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1850, F. W. Cukbey., “Against All Odds”, in The Dublin University Magazine, page 306",
          "text": "Time you want a real good friend is when you're gone just a bit close to the wind, and want to be set right again.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2003, Richard K. Morgan, Altered Carbon, page 150",
          "text": "Miriam's wordplay was steering fractionally too close to the wind for my liking.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2004, James R. Acker, David C. Brody, Criminal Procedure: A Contemporary Perspective, page 422",
          "text": "This means, naturally, that a prosecutor anxious about tacking too close to the wind will disclose a favorable piece of evidence.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2011 September 26, “Warnock slams ref as Dunne own goal gifts QPR point”, in Irish Independent",
          "text": "As far as an FA charge goes, Warnock sailed closest to the wind in his initial, expansively voiced televised criticism of Oliver -- the youngest Premier League ref at 26",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Near a limit of feasibility or compliance with law or morality."
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "close to the wind"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-06 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-05-02 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.