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For example, wind-up occurs in main axle of a fixed axle vehicle if it attempts to turn a corner. The inner and outer wheels attempt to follow arcs of different radii, but the fixed axle does not allow them to rotate independently, so the axle is subject to wind-up. It is to prevent wind-up that a differential gearing mechanism is used in road vehicles. Users of Series Land Rovers are advised not to engage four-wheel drive for road use because there is no differential between the front and rear wheels. If this advice is ignored, wind-up can cause the drive shaft linking the front and rear wheels to snap.

Wind-up is also the term used when a person is put in the situation of being deliberately led to believe one thing whilst experiencing another, usually in order to evoke an emotional response. In this usage, wind-up can be used as a noun, as in a wind-up, or as a verb, as in to wind someone up. People can also 'snap', i.e. lose their temper, if they suffer a sense of humour failure as a result of a wind-up. Prank phone calls are a type of wind-up commonly used by some radio stations.

In the verbal sense, no hyphen is required, and is also used to mean to bring to an end as in to wind up a company.

- See nhang for a wind-up that has so far not been spotted by wikidemics.

- See http://www.starbuckscoffee.co.uk for a wind-up that has embarrassed the management of a well-known retail franchise.