Sure. You can also use a windlass with a cable (either fiber or metal) or a chain. Here's Google's definition : a type of winch used especially on ships to hoist anchors and haul on mooring lines and, especially formerly, to lower buckets into and hoist them up from wells. ORIGIN: late Middle English: probably an alteration of obsolete *windas*, via Anglo-Norman French from Old Norse *vindáss*, literally "winding pole". And here's another from https://www.dictionary.com/browse/windlass : a device for raising or hauling objects, usually consisting of a horizontal cylinder or barrel turned by a crank, lever, motor, or the like, upon which a cable, rope, or chain winds, the outer end of the cable being attached directly or indirectly to the weight to be raised or the thing to be hauled or pulled; winch. -- Voragh -----Original Message----- From: Lieven L. Litaer I think my question more about English than Klingon. Regarding the word {tlhegh jIrmoHwI'} which is translated as "windlass", what other kinds of {X jIrmoHwI'} would make sense, and how would you translate {jIrmoHwI'} without doing it literally? In other words, is there a "windlass" not used with a rope?