# wince

> English word · Noun · IPA /wɪns/ · frequency rank #46,866

## Definitions
1. A sudden movement or gesture of shrinking away.
2. A reel used in dyeing, steeping, or washing cloth; a winch. It is placed over the division wall between two wince pits so as to allow the cloth to descend into either compartment at will.

## Etymology
From Middle English wyncen, from Anglo-Norman winchir (compare Old French guenchir), from Frankish *wankjan, related to *winkijan (“to flex, bend”). See also German winken.

## Easily confused with
- **wind** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wince-vs-wind)
- **wine** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wince-vs-wine)
- **wins** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wince-vs-wins)
- **wing** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wince-vs-wing)
- **wise** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wince-vs-wise)
- **wire** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wince-vs-wire)
- **wipe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wince-vs-wipe)
- **wink** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wince-vs-wink)
- **Winn** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wince-vs-winn)
- **wings** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wince-vs-wings)
- **winds** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wince-vs-winds)
- **witch** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wince-vs-witch)
- **wines** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wince-vs-wines)
- **windy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wince-vs-windy)
- **winch** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wince-vs-winch)
- **Wynne** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wince-vs-wynne)
- **winter** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wince-vs-winter)
- **winner** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wince-vs-winner)
- **winger** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wince-vs-winger)
- **winged** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wince-vs-winged)

## Common misspellings (7)
`iwnce`, `wicne`, `wincce`, `winec`, `winnce`, `wnice`, `wwince`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/wince