headwind

English

Etymology

From Middle English *hedwind, from Old English hēafodwind, equivalent to head +‎ wind. Cognate with Old Norse höfuðvindr.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈhɛdˌwɪnd/
  • Audio (Southern England):(file)

Noun

headwind (plural headwinds)

  1. (nautical, physics) A wind that blows directly against the course of a vehicle, like an aircraft, train, or ship.
  2. (transferred sense) A strong force that impedes or reverses progress.
    • 2022 June 16, Swati Bhat, “India's economic prospects firm despite global headwinds, says RBI”, in Gareth Jones, editor, Reuters‎[1], archived from the original on 16 June 2022, Macro Matters:
      "Domestic economic activity has been gaining traction in spite of formidable headwinds from external developments," the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in its monthly bulletin.
    • 2022 June 17, Michelle Goldberg, “The Future Isn’t Female Anymore”, in The New York Times‎[2], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 21 July 2022:
      At the same time, Faludi, who is working on a new book about the headwinds feminism is facing, suggested that the movement itself has grown sectarian and insular.
    • 2024 February 29, Edward Helmore, “Oprah Winfrey announces she is stepping down from WeightWatchers”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian‎[3], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 13 March 2024:
      “The increasing appetite for obesity drugs will have myriad implications, boosting sectors such as biotech and creating headwinds for industries such as food and beverage,” the bank’s report said.

Verb

headwind (third-person singular simple present headwinds, present participle headwinding, simple past and past participle headwinded)

  1. (transitive, uncommon) To blow directly against the course of a vehicle, like an aircraft, train, or ship.
  2. (idiomatic, uncommon) To impede or reverse progress.

Antonyms

Translations

This page is issued from Wiktionary. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.