Spin
Pronunciation
- IPA: /spɪn/
- Rhymes: -ɪn
Origin
From Middle English spinnen, from Old English spinnan, from Proto-Germanic *spinnanÄ…. Compare Low German spinnen, Dutch spinnen, German spinnen, Danish spinde, Swedish spinna.
Full definition of spin
Verb
- (ergative) To rotate, revolve, gyrate (usually quickly); to partially or completely rotate to face another direction.I spun myself around a few times.Spin the ball on the floor.The Earth spins with a period of one day.She spun around and gave him a big smile.
- LongfellowRound about him spun the landscape,
Sky and forest reeled together. - (transitive) To make yarn by twisting and winding fibers together.They spin the cotton into thread.
- PriorThey neither know to spin, nor care to toil.
- To present, describe, or interpret, or to introduce a bias or slant so as to give something a favorable or advantageous appearance.
- 2006, February 9, The Politics of Science, 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.
- (cricket, of a bowler) To make the ball move sideways when it bounces on the pitch.
- (cricket, of a ball) To move sideways when bouncing.
- (cooking) To form into thin strips or ribbons, as with sugar
- 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.
- 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.
- To move swiftly.to spin along the road in a carriage, on a bicycle, etc.
- To stream or issue in a thread or a small current or jet.Blood spins from a vein.
- To twist (hay) into ropes for convenient carriage on an expedition.
Synonyms
Derived terms
Noun
spin
(plural spins)- Circular motion.The car went into a spin.The skaters demonstrated their spins.''He put some spin on the cue ball.One of the planet's moons has a slower spin than the others.
- (physics) A quantum angular momentum associated with subatomic particles, which also creates a magnetic moment.
- A favourable comment or interpretation intended to bias opinion on an otherwise unpleasant situation.
- (sports) Rotation of the ball as it flies through the air; sideways movement of the ball as it bounces.
- A condition of flight where a stalled aircraft is simultaneously pitching, yawing and rolling in a spinning motion.
- A brief trip by vehicle.
- A bundle of spun material; a mass of strands and filaments.
- 1913, DH Lawrence, ,She left him alone, and went to get Annie a spin of toffee.