SPIN • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Spin

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Spin

noun

1.

A swift whirling motion (usually of a missile).

2.

The act of rotating rapidly. Synonyms: twirl, twist, twisting, whirl. "It broke off after much twisting"

3.

A short drive in a car.

4.

Rapid descent of an aircraft in a steep spiral. Synonym: tailspin.

5.

A distinctive interpretation (especially as used by politicians to sway public opinion).

verb

(past span; past part. spun; pres. part. spinning)

1.

Revolve quickly and repeatedly around one's own axis. Synonyms: gyrate, reel, spin around, whirl.

2.

Stream in jets, of liquids.

3.

Cause to spin. Synonyms: birl, twirl, whirl.

4.

Make up a story.

5.

Form a web by making a thread.

6.

Work natural fibers into a thread.

7.

Twist and turn so as to give an intended interpretation.

8.

Prolong or extend. Synonym: spin out.

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Etymology of 'Spin'

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WordNet 3.0 © 2010 Princeton University

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"Spin" Quotes from Famous Books

... was there to make sure one side didn't face the sun too long and heat up. My plan called for stopping the bird's spin so that I could get reasonable solar heating of the part I was working on. The trouble was there was nothing to grab as the satellite turned. But we had worked on that part, too, and I went into my act ...

— The Trouble with Telstar • John Berryman

... Boat Club, of which Beau Larch was a member and whither he asked Aladdin to supper. Fishes and lobsters and clams were the staple articles of Boat Club suppers, and over savory messes of these, helped down with much whisky and water, Aladdin and Beau Larch made the evening spin. Aladdin, talking eagerly and with the naivete of a child, wondered why he had never liked this man so much before. And Larch told the somewhat abject story of his life three times with an introduction ...

— Aladdin O'Brien • Gouverneur Morris

... of restlessness and discovery, and he tends to put more and more of his genius into the technique of his verse and less into the meaning. The versification is marvellous, but one gets tired of it, and he often has nothing to say and has to spin out commonplaces in rich language. One feels this even in the "Idylls of the King," which are the best of his later or middle long efforts: they are artificial, not impulsive; Virgil, not Homer; Meredith calls them 'dandiacal flutings,' which is an ...

— Letters from Mesopotamia • Robert Palmer

... I could spin many a tale of tyranny in high places, and almost as many, no doubt, of the pettinesses of workingmen. But what is the good? Why stir up my bile? In progressive incarnations, I have now passed through those of baker and petty tradesman. I am no longer an employer who exploits the ...

— Youth and Egolatry • Pio Baroja

... can try mighty hard," retorted the man grimly. "But we've got to go easy, Sarah Ellen,—no bungling. We've got to spin some sort of a yarn that won't break, nor have any weak places; and of course, as far as the real work of the farm is concerned, we'll still do the most of it. But the place'll be theirs. ...

— Across the Years • Eleanor H. Porter

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