spin
Part of speech: verb
noun
Morphological type: simple
Topics: aeronautics
aerospace
aviation
ball-games
business
computing
cooking
cricket
cycling
engineering
fishing
food
games
government
hobbies
law-enforcement
lifestyle
mathematics
mechanical
mechanical-engineering
motor-racing
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
programming
racing
sciences
sports
Etymology: From Middle English spinnen, from Old English spinnan, from Proto-Germanic *spinnaną, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)penh₁-.
Cognates
Cognate with Dutch, German spinnen (“to spin”), Luxembourgish spannen (“to spin”), Yiddish שפּינען (shpinen, “spin”), Danish spinde (“to spin”), Faroese, Icelandic and Swedish spinna (“to spin”), Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk spinne (“to spin”), Gothic 𐍃𐍀𐌹𐌽𐌽𐌰𐌽 (spinnan, “to spin”).
Inflected forms:
form: spins
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: spinning
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: spun
pos: verb
tags: past
form: span
pos: verb
tags: past
uncommon
form: spinned
pos: verb
tags: nonstandard
past
form: spun
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: spinned
pos: verb
tags: nonstandard
participle
past
form: spins
pos: noun
tags: plural
Senses:
gloss: To rotate, revolve, gyrate (usually quickly); to partially or completely rotate to face another direction.
pos: verb
tags: ergative
examples: I spun myself around a few times.
Spin the ball on the floor.
She spun around and gave him a big smile.
Round about him spun the landscape, / Sky and forest reeled together, / And his strong heart leaped within him, / As the sturgeon leaps and struggles / In a net to break its meshes.
"Shall we spin for it?" "Might as well." "All right. Here goes. Heads you first and I second. Tails, vice versa." Bill nodded. The coin spun in the air. Jimmy bent to look at it.
gloss: To rotate, revolve, gyrate (usually quickly); to partially or completely rotate to face another direction.
pos: verb
tags: ergative
gloss: To rotate, revolve, gyrate (usually quickly); to partially or completely rotate to face another direction.
pos: verb
tags: ergative
gloss: To make yarn by twisting and winding fibers together.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: They spin the cotton into thread.
Along the Sunny Bank, or Wat’ry Mead, / Ten thouſand Stalks their various Bloſſoms ſpread : / Peaceful and lowly in their native Soil, / They neither know to ſpin, nor care to toil ; / Yet with confeſs’d Magnificence deride / Our vile Attire, and Impotence of Pride.
I started out by spinning a full bobbin of natural white cotton in the normal Z-spun direction.
gloss: To present, describe, or interpret, or to introduce a bias or slant, so as to give something a favorable or advantageous appearance.
pos: verb
tags: figuratively
examples: But because he is but briefe, and these things of great consequence not to be kept obscure, I shall conceave it nothing above my duty either for the difficulty or the censure that may passe thereon, to communicate such thoughts as I also have had, and do offer them now in this generall labour of reformation, to the candid view both of Church and Magistrate; especially because I see it the hope of good men, that those irregular and unspirituall Courts have spun their utmost date in this Land; and some beter course must now be constituted.
In every administration there will be spokesmen and public affairs officers who try to spin the news to make the president look good. But this administration is trying to spin scientific data and muzzle scientists toward that end.
This past week[…] Republicans completed their journey through the looking-glass, spinning a new counternarrative of that deadly day.
gloss: To make the ball move sideways when it bounces on the pitch.
pos: verb
examples: This pitch is usually preferred for spin than pace.
gloss: To move sideways when bouncing.
pos: verb
examples: Spinning the ball gave him figures of 7-48.
gloss: To form into thin strips or ribbons, as with sugar
pos: verb
gloss: To form (a web, a cocoon, silk, etc.) from threads produced by the extrusion of a viscid, transparent liquid, which hardens on coming into contact with the air; said of the spider, the silkworm, etc.
pos: verb
examples: I spin a thread that you can't see / A web of thoughts best left unclean
gloss: To shape, as malleable sheet metal, into a hollow form, by bending or buckling it by pressing against it with a smooth hand tool or roller while the metal revolves, as in a lathe.
pos: verb
gloss: To move swiftly.
pos: verb
examples: to spin along the road in a carriage, on a bicycle, etc.
gloss: To stream or issue in a thread or a small current or jet.
pos: verb
examples: Blood spins from a vein.
Mount them, and make inciſion in their Hides, / That their hot blood may ſpin in Engliſh eyes, / And doubt them with ſuperfluous courage : ha.
And yet, we refuse to simply perceive the dark. Rather than sit within total absence our brains spin imagined stimuli out into the void. After all, how could there truly be nothing there?
gloss: To wait in a loop until some condition becomes true.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
gloss: To rotate into the gravel or managing to remain on the straight as a result of bad weather.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
examples: His car spun in the rains just after finishing lap four.
gloss: To play (vinyl records, etc.) as a disc jockey.
pos: verb
tags: informal
transitive
examples: However, for the past six years he has been spinning his novel blend of progressive house and trance music and is finally on the brink of becoming the next luminary DJ.
gloss: To use an exercise bicycle, especially as part of a gym class.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
gloss: To ride a bicycle at a fast cadence.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
gloss: To search rapidly.
pos: verb
tags: UK
slang
transitive
examples: But then again, unless someone struck lucky in those first few hours, there weren't even enough detectives to spin a drum [house].
gloss: To draw out tediously; prolong.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: to spin a yarn
gloss: To fish with a swivel or spoonbait.
pos: verb
gloss: To reject at an examination; to fail (a student).
pos: verb
tags: archaic
slang
transitive
gloss: Rapid circular motion.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
examples: The car went into a spin.
The skaters demonstrated their spins.
He put some spin on the cue ball.
gloss: A state of confusion or disorientation.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
examples: My mind was in a spin.
gloss: A quantum angular momentum associated with subatomic particles, which also creates a magnetic moment.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
gloss: A novel, creative variation of an existing thing or type; a twist.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
examples: The media has been having a field day not only with the usual tired homophobic innuendos (which one has come to expect) but with new spins on queer bashing that might even seem inventive if they were not so hateful.
gloss: A favourable comment or interpretation intended to bias opinion on an otherwise unpleasant situation.
pos: noun
tags: countable
figuratively
uncountable
examples: spin doctor
Try to put a positive spin on the disappointing sales figures.
The politician was mocked in the press for his reliance on spin rather than facts.
He added: "We've always had spin, especially from Government. But this is not spin. This is dishonesty and so it's our rail media's urgent responsibility to call it out because non-specialist journalists across the country will report this and gradually these untruths will be accepted.
Over the course of Yaccarino’s tenure as CEO, she frequently had to put a positive spin on public relations disasters and Musk’s belligerent behavior.
gloss: Rotation of the ball as it flies through the air; sideways movement of the ball as it bounces.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
gloss: A condition of flight where a stalled aircraft is simultaneously pitching, yawing, and rolling in a spinning motion.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
gloss: An abnormal condition in journal bearings where the bearing seizes to the rotating shaft and rotates inside the journal, destroying both the shaft and the journal.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
gloss: A brief trip by vehicle, especially one made for pleasure.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
examples: I'm off out for a spin in my new sports car.
But she opened the door and said "Honey, take me for a spin." / So we drove up town just to get the tags / And I headed her right on down main drag / I could hear everybody laughin' for blocks around / But up there at the court house they didn't laugh / 'Cause to type it up it took the whole staff / And when they got through the title weighed sixty pounds.
Time is running out, so I renounce a spin on a Class 387 for a fast run to Paddington on another Class 800 - a shame as the weather was perfect for pictures. Even so, it's enjoyable - boy, can those trains shift under the wires.
gloss: A bundle of spun material; a mass of strands and filaments.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
examples: She left him alone, and went to get Annie a spin of toffee.
gloss: A single play of a record; especially, one broadcast by a radio station.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
examples: Let's give this classic LP another spin.
Although the Loveless title showed the smallest increase in airplay in the top 10, its number of detections outpaced the nearest bulleted title by more than 350 spins.
gloss: A search of a prisoner's cell for forbidden articles.
pos: noun
tags: UK
countable
slang
uncountable
examples: Mr Weedon explains that this is a cell search - known by prisoners as a spin - and for obvious reasons it has to be carried out without any warning.
gloss: An unmarried woman; a spinster.
pos: noun
tags: countable
dated
uncountable
examples: 1893, Bithia Mary Croker, "To Let" in "To Let" etc., Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott, 1906, p. 1, https://archive.org/details/toletcroker00crok
Some years ago, when I was a slim young spin, I came out to India to live with my brother Tom […]
gloss: The use of an exercise bicycle, especially as part of a gym class.
pos: noun
tags: uncountable
Related words: spider
spindle
turn around
Derived words: bespin
biospin
make someone's head spin
misspin
outspin
overspin
prespin
respin
spin a tale
spinathon
spin a yarn
spinback
spin bowler
spinbox
spincast
spincoat
spindizzy
spin doctor
spin down
spinfection
spin in one's grave
spinnability
spinnable
spinner
spinny
spinoculation
spin off
spinon
spin one's wheels
spinonym
spinoptics
spinorama
spinout
spin out
spinplasmonics
spin plates
spin round
spin someone's wheels
spinson
spinster
spinternet
spintext
spin the bottle
spin the trencher
spin up
unspin
you must spoil before you spin
antispin
backspin
barspin
Biellmann spin
camel spin
cytospin
despin
electron spin resonance
finger spin
flat spin
forespin
free spin
headspin
in a flat spin
in a spin
interspin
inverted spin
isobaric spin
isospin
isotopic spin
I-spin
Jackson Haines spin
layback spin
leg spin
macrospin
media spin
microspin
multispin
off spin
on the spin
orthodox spin
parallel spin
pseudospin
quantum spin liquid
quantum unit of spin
quasispin
sidespin
sit spin
spin bath
spin bike
spin button
spincaloritronics
spin chain
spin class
spin control
spin-density wave
spin-doctored
spin doctoring
spindom
spindown
spin-dried
spin-dry
spin dryer
spin echo
spin fishing
spin foam
spinful
Spingate
spin glass
spin Hall effect
spin ice
spin label
spin-lattice relaxation time
spinless
spinlike
spinlock
spin machine
spin magnetic moment
spinmaster
spinmeister
spin merchant
spin network
spin-off
spin-o-rama
spin polarization
spin-polarized
spinproof
spin quantum number
spin room
spin-spin energy
spin-spin relaxation time
spin-top
spin trap
spin trapping
spintronic
spintronics
spin-up
spinward
spin wave
spinworthy
superspin
tailspin
take for a spin
topspin
underspin
upright spin
wheelspin
with the spin
wrist spin
Translations:
lang: Aromanian
word: anvãrtescu
lang: Azerbaijani
word: fırlanmaq
lang: Bulgarian
word: въртя
roman: vǎrtja
lang: Catalan
word: giravoltar
lang: Catalan
word: girar
lang: Catalan
word: voltar
lang: Cherokee
word: ᎠᏗᏆᎸᏕᏲᎭ
roman: adiqualvdeyoha
lang: Chinese Mandarin
word: 轉動 /转动
roman: zhuǎndòng
lang: Chinese Mandarin
word: 自轉 /自转
roman: zìzhuàn
lang: Dutch
word: draaien
lang: Esperanto
word: giri
lang: Finnish
word: pyöriä
lang: Finnish
word: kieppua
lang: Finnish
word: pyörittää
lang: Finnish
word: kieputtaa
lang: Finnish
word: pyörähtää
lang: Finnish
word: kiepahtaa (momentane)
lang: Finnish
word: pyöräyttää
lang: Finnish
word: kiepauttaa (momentane)
lang: French
word: tournoyer
lang: French
word: pivoter rapidement
lang: German
word: rotieren
lang: German
word: schleudern
lang: Hebrew
word: הסתובב
roman: histovév
lang: Hungarian
word: forog
lang: Hungarian
word: pörög
lang: Irish
word: sníomh
lang: Italian
word: girare
lang: Italian
word: far girare
lang: Italian
word: ruotare
lang: Italian
word: piroettare
lang: Italian
word: testacoda
lang: Japanese
word: 回転する
roman: kaiten suru
lang: Khmer
word: បង្វិល
roman: bɑɑbɑngvɨl
lang: Korean
word: 회전하다
roman: hoejeonhada
lang: Kyrgyz
word: айлануу
roman: aylanuu
lang: Kyrgyz
word: айлантуу
roman: aylantuu
lang: Latin
word: gȳrō
lang: Māori
word: ārohirohi
lang: Norwegian
word: spinne
lang: Occitan
word: tornejar
lang: Occitan
word: rotar
lang: Occitan
word: girar
lang: Polish
word: obracać się
lang: Polish
word: wirować
lang: Portuguese
word: girar
lang: Portuguese
word: rodar
lang: Romanian
word: învârti
lang: Russian
word: верте́ться
roman: vertétʹsja
lang: Russian
word: крути́ться
roman: krutítʹsja
lang: Russian
word: враща́ться
roman: vraščátʹsja
lang: Russian
word: вертеть
roman: vertetʹ
lang: Russian
word: крутить
roman: krutitʹ
lang: Russian
word: вращать
roman: vraščatʹ
lang: Spanish
word: girar
lang: Spanish
word: rotar
lang: Spanish
word: dar vueltas
lang: Swedish
word: snurra
lang: Swedish
word: snurra runt
lang: Thai
word: หมุน
roman: mǔn
lang: Thai
word: ปั่น
roman: bpàn
lang: Turkish
word: dolanmak
lang: Turkish
word: dönmek
lang: Ottoman Turkish
word: دونمك
roman: dönmek
lang: Ukrainian
word: крути́тися
roman: krutýtysja
lang: Ukrainian
word: верті́тися
roman: vertítysja
lang: Ukrainian
word: оберта́тися
roman: obertátysja
lang: Vietnamese
word: quay
lang: Yiddish
word: שפּינען
roman: shpinen
lang: Bulgarian
word: фалцирам
roman: falciram
lang: Dutch
word: spinnen
lang: Finnish
word: lyödä kierre
lang: Norwegian
word: spinne
lang: Bulgarian
word: фалц
roman: falc
lang: Catalan
word: efecte
lang: Finnish
word: kierre
lang: French
word: effet
lang: French
word: brossage
lang: German
word: Drall
lang: Italian
word: effetto
lang: Norwegian
word: spinn
lang: Spanish
word: rosca
lang: Spanish
word: ajuaishte
lang: Swedish
word: skruv