What does "wound up" mean in this case? And is it treated as adjective?
In The Magician's Nephew from C.S. Lewis's Narnia series:
"Alright, I have then," said Digory in a much louder voice, like a boy who was so miserable that he didn't care who knew he had been crying. "And so would you," he went on, "if you'd lived all your life in the country and had a pony, and a river at the bottom of the garden, and then been brought to live in a beastly Hole like this."
"London isn't a Hole," said Polly indignantly. But the boy was too wound up to take any notice of her, and he went on "And if your father was away in India – and you had to come and live with an Aunt and an Uncle who's mad (who would like that?) – and if the reason was that they were looking after your Mother – and if your Mother was ill and was going to – going to – die." Then his face went the wrong sort of shape as it does if you're trying to keep back your tears.
Best Answer
Wind up: to bring to a state of great tension; excite (usually used in the past participle)
I believe that the derivation is from an old pocket-watch; they had to be kept wound up (otherwise they would stop ticking) but not wound too tightly (otherwise the internal mechanisms would break.) I never had a pocketwatch, but my grandfather did, and he left us a choice phrase: "That boy is wound tighter than an idiot's watch."
There is also an expression "to get/put the wind up (somebody)" (to scare someone or make them feel anxious - probably originally a hunting term, from the way small game reacts to a sudden wind), which is superficially similar to "to wind up (a watch, or someone's nerves)".
Note on pronunciation (pace @PLL):