spin
Americanverb (used with object)
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spins,
present (3rd person singular)
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spun,
past participle, past
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span,
past participle, past (Archaic)
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spinning
present participle
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to make (yarn) by drawing out, twisting, and winding fibers.
Pioneer women spun yarn on spinning wheels.
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to form (the fibers of any material) into thread or yarn.
The machine spins nylon thread.
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(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.
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to cause to turn around rapidly, as on an axis; twirl; whirl.
to spin a coin on a table.
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Informal. to play (phonograph records).
a job spinning records on a radio show.
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Metalworking. to shape (sheet metal) into a hollow, rounded form by pressure from a tool while rotating the metal on a lathe or wheel.
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to produce, fabricate, or evolve in a manner suggestive of spinning thread.
to spin a tale of sailing ships and bygone days.
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Rocketry. to cause intentionally (a rocket or guided missile) to undergo a roll.
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to draw out, protract, or prolong (often followed byout ).
He spun the project out for over three years.
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British. to flunk a student in an examination or a term's work.
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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.
verb (used without object)
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spins,
present (3rd person singular)
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spun,
past participle, past
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span,
past participle, past (Archaic)
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spinning
present participle
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to revolve or rotate rapidly, as the earth or a top.
- Synonyms:
- gyrate
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to produce a thread from the body, as spiders or silkworms.
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to produce yarn or thread by spinning.
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to move, go, run, ride, or travel rapidly.
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to have a sensation of whirling; reel.
My head began to spin and I fainted.
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to fish with a spinning or revolving bait.
noun
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spins
plural
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the act of causing a spinning or whirling motion.
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a spinning motion given to a ball, wheel, axle, or other object.
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a downward movement or trend, especially one that is sudden, alarming, etc..
Steel prices went into a spin.
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a rapid run, ride, drive, or the like, as for exercise or enjoyment.
They went for a spin in the car.
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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.
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Also called tail spin. Also called 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.
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Rocketry.
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the act of intentionally causing a rocket or guided missile to undergo a roll.
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a roll so caused.
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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.
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Australian. a run of luck; fate.
verb phrase
idioms
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spin one's wheels. wheel.
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spin out, (of an automobile) to undergo a spinout.
verb
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to rotate or cause to rotate rapidly, as on an axis
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to draw out and twist (natural fibres, as of silk or cotton) into a long continuous thread
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to make such a thread or filament from (synthetic resins, etc), usually by forcing through a nozzle
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(of spiders, silkworms, etc) to form (webs, cocoons, etc) from a silky fibre exuded from the body
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(tr) to shape (metal) into a rounded form on a lathe
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informal (tr) to tell (a tale, story, etc) by drawing it out at great length (esp in the phrase spin a yarn )
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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
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(intr) (of wheels) to revolve rapidly without causing propulsion
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to cause (an aircraft) to dive in a spiral descent or (of an aircraft) to dive in a spiral descent
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to drive or travel swiftly
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Also: spin-dry. (tr) to rotate (clothes) in a washing machine in order to extract surplus water
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(intr) to reel or grow dizzy, as from turning around
my head is spinning
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(intr) to fish by drawing a revolving lure through the water
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informal (intr) to present news or information in a way that creates a favourable impression
noun
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a swift rotating motion; instance of spinning
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physics
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the intrinsic angular momentum of an elementary particle or atomic nucleus, as distinguished from any angular momentum resulting from its motion
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S. s. a quantum number determining values of this angular momentum in units of the Dirac constant, having integral or half-integral values
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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
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a spinning motion imparted to a ball, etc
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(in skating) any of various movements involving spinning rapidly on the spot
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informal a short or fast drive, ride, etc, esp in a car, for pleasure
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informal a state of agitation or confusion
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informal a period of time or an experience; chance or luck; fortune
a bad spin
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informal commerce a sudden downward trend in prices, values, etc
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informal the practice of presenting news or information in a way that creates a favourable impression
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informal one after another
they have lost two finals on the spin
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The intrinsic angular momentum of a rigid body or particle, especially a subatomic particle.
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Also called spin angular momentum
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The total angular momentum of a physical system, such as an electron orbital or an atomic nucleus.
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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.
Synonym Usage
See turn.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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spinsimple
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spinssimple
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have spanperfect
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have spunperfect
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has spanperfect
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has spunperfect
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am spinningprogressive
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are spinningprogressive
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is spinningprogressive
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have been spinningperfect progressive
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has been spinningperfect progressive
Past
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spansimple
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spunsimple
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had spanperfect
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had spunperfect
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was spinningprogressive
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were spinningprogressive
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had been spinningperfect progressive
Future
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
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
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Geothermal, which involves tapping into Earth’s underground heat to spin turbines, looks a lot like nuclear in that it can produce clean electricity 24 hours a day.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026
The norm at U.S. companies is for management to gild the lily, knowing the analysts at big Wall Street brokers will relay the spin as their own.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
"No one ever thought we could go viral like this," Fava told AFP on Wednesday, as the pair returned to Testaccio square, in the namesake historic working-class district of the Italian capital, for another spin.
From Barron's ● Aug. 13, 2026
If you want to put a merchandising spin on it, it's the highest fee for a player in that position at that age, and all those things come into play.
From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026
When it came to the big moment to rescue Courtney, I found that what I could do was spin really fast — so fast I was like a blur! — on one foot.
From "Firegirl" by Tony Abbott
They shuffle their feet to Whitney Houston’s “Love Is a Contact Sport,” while another dancer hops on a pole and spins.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026
He develops a reputation for aggression, seemingly fighting a war against everyone on the asphalt that spins out when he attempts to bully a cosmopolitan French driver into submission.
From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2026
Acceleration could also generate previously unexplored transport effects and influence the alignment of particle spins.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 3, 2026
When mother and son sing songs from the famous cycle by Bengali writer-composer and Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore or hold a deathbed conversation in Bangla, the piece spins further across time and space.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 12, 2026
G’ma spins all the way around, mock-gasps, and puts the spatula over her heart.
From "Clean Getaway" by Nic Stone
That leaves scientists with relatively little information about how life changed during an enormous span covering about 90 percent of Earth's history.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 17, 2026
In the span of a single human lifetime — between the Gold Rush and Prohibition — we killed them all.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
The short attention span Schwartz described is now even more pronounced.
From Salon ● Aug. 7, 2026
Its operations span more than 60 venues ranging from the Chicago Mercantile Exchange to the decentralized crypto exchange Uniswap.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
I can only remember those things now, with a span of miles and years between us.
From "Educated" by Tara Westover
Gilles Villeneuve's left rear wheel is barely hanging on to his Ferrari after he spun out of the lead in 1979 because of a punctured tyre.
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
Serve was founded in 2017 as a division of Postmates and was spun out as an independent company after Uber acquired Postmates.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026
“Oprah spun off Dr. Phil, Dr. Oz, and gave oxygen to Suzanne Somers’ and Jenny McCarthy’s toxic messages.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
It has spun off and listed its Aumovio automotive unit, sold its original equipment solutions business and agreed to sell its ContiTech unit that manufactures products like conveyer belts and materials for vehicle interiors.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
Would I have to stay here forever, always at the queen’s beck and call when she needed straw spun to gold?
From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff
Thatcher’s warbly voice hangs in the air; tales of the Leatherman and lost daughters spinning around your brain as you try to fall asleep.
From Salon ● Aug. 17, 2026
The fans goaded Kuniskis to rip a burnout, spinning the truck’s wheels in place until rubber turned into smoke.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
Each of us took turns spinning a bottle until it pointed to a cat, who joyfully received cat treats.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026
Emerging between fireworks, Kerr had strutted out on to the track, spinning a bottle, and allowed his 12 rivals to sprint away.
From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026
Only a faint glow of moonlight spilled through the window, illuminating my bed and the spinning wheel.
From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
