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drop spindle

American  
[drahp spin-duhl] / ˈdrɑp ˈspɪn dəl /

noun

drop spindles plural
  1. a spindle which is weighted and which hangs from a length of fibre as the spinner's hands control the fibre from above.


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Noun Inflected Forms

Example Sentences

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They gave women spinning wheels, a much more efficient way to create yarn than the traditional spindle whorls used on the drop spindle.

From Scientific American Sep. 15, 2022

She suggests that the statue held a distaff of fluffy fibers in her upraised left arm, while with her right she guided the thread toward a weighted drop spindle hanging in front of her.

From Slate May 1, 2015

She would pull it through her fingers while the drop spindle, a big top, was spinning on the floor.

From "Life Is So Good" by George Dawson

We didn’t have a spinning wheel, so she used a drop spindle to make thread out of the clumps of clean cotton that Grandma Charity and I pulled.

From "Life Is So Good" by George Dawson

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