Link Centre Dictionary

spin

UK/spɪn/ US/ˈspɪn/ common informal slang uk
verb (8) noun (5)

verb

1.

revolve quickly and repeatedly around one''s own axis

  • “The dervishes whirl around and around without getting dizzy”
Synonyms
2.

stream in jets, of liquids

  • “The creek spun its course through the woods”
3.

cause to spin

  • “spin a coin”
Synonyms
4.

make up a story

  • “spin a yarn”
5.

form a web by making a thread

  • “spiders spin a fine web”
6.

work natural fibers into a thread

  • “spin silk”
7.

twist and turn so as to give an intended interpretation

  • “The President”
8.

prolong or extend

  • “spin out a visit”
Synonyms

noun

1.
2.

the act of rotating rapidly

  • “he gave the crank a spin”
  • “it broke off after much twisting”
Synonyms
3.

a short drive in a car

  • “he took the new car for a spin”
4.

rapid descent of an aircraft in a steep spiral

Synonyms
5.

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

  • “the campaign put a favorable spin on the story”

Origin

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”).

Phrases

  • Biellmann spin Terms derived from spin (noun)
  • camel spin Terms derived from spin (noun)
  • electron spin resonance Terms derived from spin (noun)
  • finger spin Terms derived from spin (noun)
  • flat spin Terms derived from spin (noun)
  • free spin Terms derived from spin (noun)
  • in a flat spin Terms derived from spin (noun)
  • in a spin Terms derived from spin (noun)
  • make someone's head spin Terms derived from spin (verb)
  • spin a tale Terms derived from spin (verb)
  • spin a yarn Terms derived from spin (verb)
  • spin bowler Terms derived from spin (verb)

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

Entails

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.