spin

American  

[spin] / spɪn /

verb (used with object)

• spins,
  present (3rd person singular)
• spun,
  past participle,  past
• span,
  past participle,  past (Archaic)
• spinning
  present participle

1. to make (yarn) by drawing out, twisting, and winding fibers.

   Pioneer women spun yarn on spinning wheels.

2. to form (the fibers of any material) into thread or yarn.

   The machine spins nylon thread.

3. (of spiders, silkworms, etc.) to produce (a thread, cobweb, gossamer, silk, etc.) by extruding from the body a long, slender filament of a natural viscous matter that hardens in the air.

4. to cause to turn around rapidly, as on an axis; twirl; whirl.

   to spin a coin on a table.

5. Informal. to play (phonograph records).

   a job spinning records on a radio show.

6. Metalworking. to shape (sheet metal) into a hollow, rounded form by pressure from a tool while rotating the metal on a lathe or wheel.

7. to produce, fabricate, or evolve in a manner suggestive of spinning thread.

   to spin a tale of sailing ships and bygone days.

   Synonyms:

   relate, narrate, develop

8. Rocketry. to cause intentionally (a rocket or guided missile) to undergo a roll.

9. to draw out, protract, or prolong (often followed byout ).

   He spun the project out for over three years.

   Synonyms:

   lengthen, extend

10. British. to flunk a student in an examination or a term's work.

11. Slang. to cause to have a particular bias; influence in a certain direction.

    His assignment was to spin the reporters after the president's speech.

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verb (used without object)

• spins,
  present (3rd person singular)
• spun,
  past participle,  past
• span,
  past participle,  past (Archaic)
• spinning
  present participle

1. to revolve or rotate rapidly, as the earth or a top.

   Synonyms:

   gyrate

2. to produce a thread from the body, as spiders or silkworms.

3. to produce yarn or thread by spinning.

4. to move, go, run, ride, or travel rapidly.

5. to have a sensation of whirling; reel.

   My head began to spin and I fainted.

6. to fish with a spinning or revolving bait.

noun

• spins
  plural

1. the act of causing a spinning or whirling motion.

2. a spinning motion given to a ball, wheel, axle, or other object.

3. a downward movement or trend, especially one that is sudden, alarming, etc..

   Steel prices went into a spin.

4. a rapid run, ride, drive, or the like, as for exercise or enjoyment.

   They went for a spin in the car.

5. Slang. a particular viewpoint or bias, especially in the media; slant.

   They tried to put a favorable spin on the news coverage of the controversial speech.

6. Also called tail spin, tailspin. Aeronautics. a maneuver in which an airplane descends in a vertical direction along a helical path of large pitch and small radius at an angle of attack greater than the critical angle, dangerous when not done intentionally or under control.

7. Rocketry.

   1. the act of intentionally causing a rocket or guided missile to undergo a roll.

   2. a roll so caused.

8. Also called spin angular momentum. Physics. the intrinsic angular momentum characterizing each kind of elementary particle, having one of the values 0, 1/2, 1/3, … when measured in units of Planck's constant divided by 2π.

9. Australian. a run of luck; fate.

verb phrase

1. spin off

   1. to create something new, as a company or assets, without detracting from or affecting the relative size or stability of the original.

      After the acquisition, the company was required to spin off about a third of its assets.

   2. to derive from or base on something done previously.

      They took the character of the maid and spun off another TV series.

idioms

1. spin one's wheels. wheel.

2. spin out, (of an automobile) to undergo a spinout.

spin British  

/ spɪn /

verb

1. to rotate or cause to rotate rapidly, as on an axis

2. 1. to draw out and twist (natural fibres, as of silk or cotton) into a long continuous thread

   2. to make such a thread or filament from (synthetic resins, etc), usually by forcing through a nozzle

3. (of spiders, silkworms, etc) to form (webs, cocoons, etc) from a silky fibre exuded from the body

4. (tr) to shape (metal) into a rounded form on a lathe

5. informal (tr) to tell (a tale, story, etc) by drawing it out at great length (esp in the phrase spin a yarn )

6. to bowl, pitch, hit, or kick (a ball) so that it rotates in the air and changes direction or speed on bouncing, or (of a ball) to be projected in this way

7. (intr) (of wheels) to revolve rapidly without causing propulsion

8. to cause (an aircraft) to dive in a spiral descent or (of an aircraft) to dive in a spiral descent

9. to drive or travel swiftly

10. Also: spin-dry. (tr) to rotate (clothes) in a washing machine in order to extract surplus water

11. (intr) to reel or grow dizzy, as from turning around

    my head is spinning

12. (intr) to fish by drawing a revolving lure through the water

13. informal (intr) to present news or information in a way that creates a favourable impression

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noun

1. a swift rotating motion; instance of spinning

2. physics

   1. the intrinsic angular momentum of an elementary particle or atomic nucleus, as distinguished from any angular momentum resulting from its motion

   2. S, s. a quantum number determining values of this angular momentum in units of the Dirac constant, having integral or half-integral values

3. a condition of loss of control of an aircraft or an intentional flight manoeuvre in which the aircraft performs a continuous spiral descent because the angle of maximum lift is less than the angle of incidence

4. a spinning motion imparted to a ball, etc

5. (in skating) any of various movements involving spinning rapidly on the spot

6. informal a short or fast drive, ride, etc, esp in a car, for pleasure

7. informal a state of agitation or confusion

8. informal a period of time or an experience; chance or luck; fortune

   a bad spin

9. informal commerce a sudden downward trend in prices, values, etc

10. informal the practice of presenting news or information in a way that creates a favourable impression

11. informal one after another

    they have lost two finals on the spin

spin Scientific  

/ spĭn /

1. The intrinsic angular momentum of a rigid body or particle, especially a subatomic particle.

2. Also called spin angular momentum

3. The total angular momentum of a physical system, such as an electron orbital or an atomic nucleus.

4. A quantum number expressing spin angular momentum; the actual angular momentum is a quantum number multiplied by Dirac's constant. Fermions have spin values that are integer multiples of 1/2, while bosons have spin values that are integer multiples of 1.

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spin More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing spin

• go into a tailspin
• make one's head spin
• put a spin on

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Synonym Usage

See turn.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• spinnability
  noun
• outspin
  verb (used with object)
• spinnable
  adjective
• unspinnable
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• spins
  plural

Participles

• spinning
  present
• span
  past
• spun
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• spin
  simple
• spins
  simple
• have span
  perfect
• have spun
  perfect
• has span
  perfect
• has spun
  perfect
• am spinning
  progressive
• are spinning
  progressive
• is spinning
  progressive
• have been spinning
  perfect progressive
• has been spinning
  perfect progressive

Past

• span
  simple
• spun
  simple
• had span
  perfect
• had spun
  perfect
• was spinning
  progressive
• were spinning
  progressive
• had been spinning
  perfect progressive

Future

• will spin
  simple
• will have span
  perfect
• will have spun
  perfect
• will be spinning
  progressive
• will have been spinning
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of spin

First recorded before 900; Middle English spinnen “to spin yarn,” Old English spinnan; cognate with Dutch, German spinnen, Old Norse spinna, Gothic spinnan

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Explanation

When you spin, you whirl around in a circle. Many kids love to spin on a merry-go-round. You can spin in a happy circle, and you can describe this movement as a spin. Another way to use the word spin is for a deliberate twisting of information, especially when it's done by politicians. A candidate might spin a news report to make herself look more appealing, for example, or spin bad news to make it appear good. This meaning of spin is relatively new, not being used much until the mid-1980's.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

spin spins span spun spinning

It will just be some time before Tesla fanatics can take one for a spin.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026

“We think the best value creation at this moment in time for J&J shareholders is to spin it straight out,” Wolk said in an interview.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026

Wicketkeeper Kyle Verreynne, in contrast, lasted only three balls before nudging Matt Renshaw's part-time spin to slip.

From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026

But the effort to ensure that they once again rise, fall and spin around a spherical base has begun.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026

I laughed, causing the clerk at the far end of the counter to spin around.

From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu

The groups can be "echo chambers where everyone just spins each other out about their kids", he says, and suggests having a proper conversation with your child about boundaries, before university starts.

From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2026

At temperatures close to -270 °C, each electron interacts with roughly one million nearby nuclear spins.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 24, 2026

When a weak magnetic field is applied, the polarization of those nuclear spins begins to rotate.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 24, 2026

“Neagley,” now streaming from Prime Video, spins off from “Reacher,” born in the novels of Lee Child.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026

When Lara spins around, it’s like she’s posing for a photo or something.

From "Amari and the Night Brothers" by B.B. Alston

The deck replacement is necessary because traffic loads on the span have become increasingly heavy, and salt air has eroded bridge materials.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026

“The truth is the board usually has the attention span for about a page or two on each individual,” Cohn said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

With a leg span of up to one metre and a body weight of more than 4kg, they are also the world's largest land-dwelling crustacean and are able to climb trees.

From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2026

I rarely find myself both crying with laughter and crying through my laughter in the span of the same film.

From Salon ● Oct. 12, 2026

Closets are emptied and refilled in the span of a few hours.

From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama

He lost control of his Mercedes, which spun across the track into the inside wall, before bouncing back again to the outside, the rest of the field somehow avoiding him.

From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2026

"It spun from our treatment, and not being treated like human beings."

From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026

“Mr. O’Malley spun his ever-present cigar, paused for just a second and replied, ‘I want to be remembered for planting a tree.’

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026

Amodei said his company would allow outside evaluators like METR—which was spun off from a nonprofit founded by one of Amodei’s former group housemates—to verify its adherence to safety measures and assess model alignment.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 27, 2026

He spun once again, trying to get his bearings.

From "The Way to Rio Luna" by Zoraida Cordova

Its chief financial officer told The Wall Street Journal that the drug company is thinking more seriously about spinning out its hips-and-knees business.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026

"But as the beam travels forward, spinning regions appear and separate out -- almost as if the spin was hiding and then revealed itself."

From Science Daily ● Oct. 13, 2026

The 37-year-old began his journey just hours after spinning out of Sunday's chaotic Grand Prix, taking a trip that involved off-road and gravel trails as well as cycling at night.

From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026

In 2011, Joe Kay debuted Soulection as a college radio show at Cal State Long Beach, spinning rare B-sides, progressive beats, inventive flips of classic records and soulful underground tracks.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2026

There was an old man sitting in front of a wooden shack, spinning.

From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff

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Related Words

• reel
• revolve
• rotate
• spiral
• swim
• turn
• twirl
• twist
• whirl

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