Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- intransitive verb To rotate rapidly; whirl. synonym: turn.
- intransitive verb To have a sensation of whirling, as from dizziness; reel.
- intransitive verb To make thread or yarn by drawing out and twisting fibers.
- intransitive verb To extrude viscous filaments, forming a web or cocoon.
- intransitive verb To fish with a light rod, lure, and line and a reel with a stationary spool.
- intransitive verb To cause to rotate swiftly; twirl.
- intransitive verb To shape or manufacture by a twirling or rotating process.
- intransitive verb Informal To play (a recorded piece of music, such as a phonograph record), especially as a disc jockey.
- intransitive verb To provide an interpretation of (a statement or event, for example), especially in a way meant to sway public opinion.
- intransitive verb To draw out and twist (fibers) into thread.
- intransitive verb To form (thread or yarn) in this manner.
- intransitive verb To form (a web or cocoon, for example) by extruding viscous filaments.
- intransitive verb To relate or create.
- noun The act of spinning.
- noun A swift whirling motion.
- noun A state of mental confusion.
- noun Informal A short drive in a vehicle.
- noun The flight condition of an aircraft in a nose-down, spiraling, stalled descent.
- noun A distinctive point of view, emphasis, or interpretation.
- noun A distinctive character or style.
- noun The angular momentum of rotation of a rigid body about its own axis.
- noun The intrinsic angular momentum of a subatomic particle.
- idiom (spin (one's) wheels) To expend effort with no result.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A rapid revolving or whirling motion, as that of a top on its axis; a rapid twirl: as, to give a coin a spin.
- noun A continued rapid motion or action of any kind; a spirited dash or run; a single effort of high speed, as in running a race; a spurt.
- noun In mathematics, a rotation-velocity considered as represented by a line, the axis of rotation, and a length marked upon that line proportional to the number of turns per unit of time.
- noun A variation of the game of new-market in which the holder of the diamond ace is allowed to play it in order to stop the suit, provided it is his play to the sequence at the time. See
newmarket . - noun In cricket, a twist or rotation imparted to the ball by the bowler.
- noun An abbreviation of
spinster . - To draw out and twist into threads, either by the hand or by machinery: as, to
spin wool, cotton, or flax. - To make, fabricate, or form by drawing out and twisting the materials of: as, to
spin a thread or a web; to spin glass. - To form by the extrusion in long slender filaments or threads of viscous matter which hardens in air: said of the spider, the silkworm, and other insects: as, to
spin silk or gossamer; to spin a web or cocoon. - Figuratively, to fabricate or produce in a manner analogous to the drawing out and twisting of wool or flax into threads, or to the processes of the spider or the silkworm: sometimes with out.
- To whirl rapidly; cause to turn rapidly on its own axis by twirling: as, to
spin a top; to spin a coin on a table. - To fish with a swivel or spoon-bait: as, to
spin the upper pool. - In sheet-metal work, to form in a lathe, as a disk of sheet-metal, into a globe, cup, vase, or like form.
- To reject at an examination; “send spinning.”
- To form threads by drawing out and twisting the fiber of wool, cotton, flax, and the like, especially with the distaff and spindle, with the spinning-wheel, or with spinning-machinery.
- To form threads out of a viscous fluid, as a spider or silkworm.
- To revolve rapidly; whirl, as a top or a spindle.
- To issue in a thread or small stream; spirt.
- To go or move rapidly; go fast: as, to
spin along the road. - To use a spinner or spinning-spoon; troll: as, to
spin for trout. - To be made to revolve, as a minnow on the trolling-spoon.
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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The term 'spin off' suggests the relationship between News Corp and Sky News will be minimal, like that between Cheers and Frasier - although, since News Corp will still retain exactly the same percentage of shares in Sky News, it'll be more like if Frasier was set in Boston.
James Moran: News Corp: A Good Empire James Moran 2011
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He turned the can with his fingers and absently watched the label spin around.
Loving the Highlander Janet Chapman 2003
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He turned the can with his fingers and absently watched the label spin around.
Loving the Highlander Janet Chapman 2003
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Before we begin, I'd like to define the term spin off.
unknown title 2011
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Can I ask, you guys think maybe the term spin comes from because you roll your eyes when you hear it?
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In public relations, the term spin generally "signifies a heavily biased portrayal."
Forbes.com: News James Zirin 2011
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I guess that's why the term "spin" is used to describe it, eh?
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Austerity is just another word spin that means "we spent too much and now have to tighten the belt or go bankrupt."
The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com The Huffington Post News Editors 2011
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Sometimes I feel as if their spin is a slap in the face because I can see through their one side position, wonder how dumb they are, or assume that we are.
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I was stunned to learn that Jobs, a natural master if ever there was one, had not heard of the word "spin," which had famously emerged in the 1984 presidential campaign.
William Bradley: Steve Jobs: Hardly a Perfect Person, Perhaps a Perfect Icon William Bradley 2011
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They’re often made by dropping solutions of materials on to a spinning plate in a process called spin coating, which is impractical for large-scale manufacturing.
A new kind of solar cell is coming: is it the future of green energy? Mark Peplow 2023
oroboros commented on the word spin
Nips in reverse.
July 22, 2007
adoarns commented on the word spin
In house officer slang, means to send a patient for spiral CT, most often used to look for evidence of a pulmonary embolism.
January 19, 2008
qroqqa commented on the word spin
But oh, those yummy sticky rolls, served in little baskets, and that prune spin with maraschino cherries in it!
—Dorothy Parker, 'The Bolt behind the Blue'
'Prune spin' seems to be unknown apart from this Parker reference.
November 12, 2008
marky commented on the word spin
I like looking at what lists a word is listed in and the context it takes upon itself within each list.. this is one of those words.
this function was adopted by wordnik.com from the old wordie.org site.
October 8, 2010