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spin-off
spin-offnouna process of reorganizing a corporate structure whereby the capital stock of a division or subsidiary of a corporation or of a newly affiliated company is transferred to the stockholders of the parent corporation without an exchange of any part of the stock of the latter.
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spin off
spin offverb(tr, preposition) to turn (a part of a business enterprise) into a separate company
spin-off
Americannoun
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spin-offs
plural
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Commerce. a process of reorganizing a corporate structure whereby the capital stock of a division or subsidiary of a corporation or of a newly affiliated company is transferred to the stockholders of the parent corporation without an exchange of any part of the stock of the latter.
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any product that is an adaption, outgrowth, or development of another similar product.
The paperback is a spin-off from the large hardcover encyclopedia.
- Synonyms:
- offshoot, issue, by-product
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a secondary or incidental product or effect derived from technological development in a somewhat unrelated area.
- Synonyms:
- offshoot, issue, by-product
verb
noun
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any product or development derived incidentally from the application of existing knowledge or enterprise
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a book, film, or television series derived from a similar successful book, film, or television series
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of spin-off
First recorded in 1945–50; noun use of verb phrase spin off
Compare meaning
How does spin-off compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
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:
Ed Gamble, host of BBC Two spin-off show Uncloaked, added that he watched "hours of footage a day" as well.
From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026
Resonac’s petrochemical unit is set to list Tuesday in Tokyo, with a spin-off becoming effective Thursday.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026
He rose to fame as a “looksmaxxer,” which is a spin-off of the larger incel community.
From Salon ● Sep. 25, 2026
The suit centered on profit participation rights for the original “Walking Dead” series and its first spin-off, “Fear the Walking Dead.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026
“This is it. It’s happening. You’re going to reach out, right? This is amazing. Hollywood will make a movie about you two. And a Netflix spin-off about your gay children.”
From "What If It's Us" by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera
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The important benchmark comes as Comcast prepares to spin off NBCUniversal entertainment and news media businesses into a separate company.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026
The announcement of price cuts comes ahead of parent company Associated British Foods' plan to spin off the business onto the London stock market next year.
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
The deal which excludes ITV Studios, the group's production arm, comes after Comcast last week said it would spin off its Sky media and NBCUniversal divisions into a separate company.
From Barron's ● Jul. 6, 2026
Just a week after Comcast announced a plan to spin off NBCUniversal, the Philadelphia media-and-broadband conglomerate said it’s buying a British broadcaster.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 6, 2026
She whips my arm, making me spin off the walkway, cracking us both up.
From "A Good Kind of Trouble" by Lisa Moore Ramée
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Even the smallest side characters were gifted their own spin-offs in the streaming service-boosted age of marketable intellectual property.
From Salon ● Aug. 29, 2026
Since then, the original series and its more than a dozen spin-offs have generated nearly 1,000 episodes.
From Barron's ● Jul. 26, 2026
Every one of Disney’s remakes and spin-offs of its animated hits has been a naked cash grab.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 2026
The part earned her an Annie Award for best voice acting in an animated feature production and she continued to voice the character in later spin-offs.
From BBC ● Jun. 17, 2026
By 1980, the Lisp Machine project had generated two commercial spin-offs.
From Free as in Freedom: Richard Stallman's Crusade for Free Software by Sam Williams
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.