Category:Spin

Spin, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Spun (archaic imp. Span ; p. pr. & vb. n. Spinning.] Etym: [as. spinnan; akin to d. & g. spinnen, icel. & sw. Spinna, dan. spinde, goth. spinnan, and probably to e. span. sq. Root170. Cf. Span, v. t., Spider.]

1. To draw out, and twist into threads, either by the hand or Machinery; as, to spin wool, cotton, or flax; to spin goat's hair; to Produce by drawing out and twisting a fibrous material. All the yarn she [penelope] spun in ulysses' absence did but fill Ithaca full of moths. Shak.

2. To draw out tediously; to form by a slow process, or by degrees; To extend to a great length; -- with out; as, to spin out large Volumes on a subject. Do you mean that story is tediously spun out sheridan.

3. To protract; to spend by delays; as, to spin out the day in Idleness. By one delay after another they spin out their whole lives. L'estrange.

4. To cause to turn round rapidly; to whirl; to twirl; as, to spin a Top.

5. To form (a web, a cocoon, silk, or the like) 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.

6. (mech.)

Defn: 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 spin a yarn (naut.), to tell a story, esp. a long or fabulous tale. -- to spin hay (mil.), to twist it into ropes for convenient Carriage on an expedition. -- to spin street yarn, to gad about gossiping. [collog.]

Spin Spin, v. i.

1. To practice spinning; to work at drawing and twisting threads; to Make yarn or thread from fiber; as, the woman knows how to spin; a Machine or jenny spins with great exactness. They neither know to spin, nor care to toll. Prior.

2. To move round rapidly; to whirl; to revolve, as a top or a Spindle, about its axis. Round about him spun the landscape, sky and forest reeled together. Longfellow. With a whirligig of jubilant mosquitoes spinning about each head. G. W. Cable.

3. To stream or issue in a thread or a small current or jet; as, Blood spinsfrom a vein. Shak.

4. To move swifty; as, to spin along the road in a carriage, on a Bicycle, etc. [colloq.]

Spin Spin, n.

1. The act of spinning; as, the spin of a top; a spin a bicycle. [colloq.]

2. (kinematics)

Defn: velocity of rotation about some specified axis. go for a spin Take a spin, take a trip in a wheeled vehicle, usu. an automobile.