  We present a study of C IV absorption in a sample of 63 damped Lyman-alpha
(DLA) systems and 11 sub-DLAs in the redshift range 1.75<z_abs<3.61, using a
dataset of high-resolution (6.6 km/s FWHM), high signal-to-noise VLT/UVES
spectra. Narrow and broad C IV absorption line components indicate the presence
of both warm, photoionized and hot, collisionally ionized gas. We report new
correlations between the metallicity (measured in the neutral-phase) and each
of the C IV column density, the C IV total line width, and the maximum C IV
velocity. We explore the effect on these correlations of the sub-DLAs, the
proximate DLAs (defined as those within 5 000 km/s of the quasar), the
saturated absorbers, and the metal line used to measure the metallicity, and we
find the correlations to be robust. There is no evidence for any difference
between the measured properties of DLA C IV and sub-DLA C IV. In 25 DLAs and 4
sub-DLAs, covering 2.5 dex in [Z/H], we directly observe C IV moving above the
escape speed, where v_esc is derived from the total line width of the neutral
gas profiles. These high-velocity C IV clouds, unbound from the central
potential well, can be interpreted as highly ionized outflowing winds, which
are predicted by numerical simulations of galaxy feedback. The distribution of
C IV column density in DLAs and sub-DLAs is similar to the distribution in
Lyman Break galaxies, where winds are directly observed, supporting the idea
that supernova feedback creates the ionized gas in DLAs. The unbound C IV
absorbers show a median mass flow rate of ~22(r/40 kpc) solar masses per year,
where r is the characteristic C IV radius. Their kinetic energy fluxes are
large enough that a star formation rate (SFR) of ~2 solar masses per year is
required to power them.
