Windex

English

Etymology 1

From a trade name, derived from window.

Noun

Windex (uncountable)

1. A window cleaner containing detergent and ammonia.

Synonyms

• (window cleaner): Windolene (UK)

Verb

Windex (third-person singular simple present Windexes, present participle Windexing, simple past and past participle Windexed)

1. To clean (a glass surface) using a cleaning product of this kind.
   • 1985, Bharati Mukherjee, “Visitors” in Darkness, Markham, Ontario: Penguin Books Canada, p. 164,^[1]

     But if change has come into her life as Mrs Sailen Kumar, it has seeped in so gradually that she can’t fix it with one admiring stare when she Windexes toothpaste flecks off the bathroom mirror.

   • 1987, Armistead Maupin, “Descent into Heaven”, in Significant Others‎^[2], New York: Harper & Row, page 11:

     Back on the twenty-third floor, he found Nguyet Windexing the kitchen window with what appeared to be the last of the paper towels.

   • 1995, John Keene, “Theses, Antitheses, A Welter of Theories,”, in Annotations‎^[3], New York: New Directions, page 56:

     Often the ground glared back as would a freshly Windexed mirror, so that when he fell, breaking what the doctor termed a “coccyx,” seven years of bad luck became part of the bargain.

A windex.

Etymology 2

From a brand of mast-top wind indicator for sailing boats, derived from wind.

Noun

Windex (plural Windexes)

1. (sailing) An arrow-shaped indicator of wind direction installed in mast-top.

Translations

type of wind indicator

• Finnish: windex

See also

• Apparent wind indicator on Wikipedia.Wikipedia