The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
WINCH
Definition of WINCH
noun
A machine consisting of a drum on an axle, a friction brake or ratchet and pawl, and a crank handle or prime mover (often an electric or hydraulic motor), with or without gearing, to give increased mechanical advantage when hoisting or hauling on a rope or cable.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Middle English wynche, from Old English winċe, from Proto-Germanic *winkijǭ, ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European *weng- (“to bow, bend, arch, curve”), whence also wink.
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
4 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
2nd
of 59 source languages in OUTLIER
14.2%
of traced words share this origin (11,843)
How it is built
Same root, WINCH · 6 relatives in the game
Every Proto-Indo-European word → · The Word DNA of OUTLIER →
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
WINCH in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 61 boards so far. 385 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 19, 8 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 165, 1 November 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 3 days.
First found by a player on Day 19, 8 June 2026.
Built from these letters
WINCH starts with W and ends with H. Sorted, its letters read CHINW - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
Words that start WINCH
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 19
Could you have found WINCH?
OUTLIER is a daily word game. One grid, the same grid for everybody, and the words nobody else spots are the ones that pay. This word was on Day 19 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER