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spin-out

American  
[spin-out] / ˈspɪnˌaʊt /
Or spinout

noun

  1. the spinning out of control into a rotating skid of a car or other vehicle.

spin out British  

verb

  1. to extend or protract (a story, etc) by including superfluous detail; prolong

  2. to spend or pass (time)

  3. to contrive to cause (money, etc) to last as long as possible

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

noun

  1. a spinning skid in a car that causes it to run off the road

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
spin out Idioms  

  1. Protract or prolong, as in They spun out the negotiations over a period of months . This idiom alludes to drawing out a thread by spinning. [c. 1600]

  2. Rotate out of control, as in The car spun out and crashed into the store window . [Mid-1900s]

Etymology

Origin of spin-out

First recorded in 1950–55; noun use of verb phrase spin out

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.

“Lastly, we believe that the recently announced spin-out of FedEx Freight into a standalone company should serve as a value-unlocking event and will put more scrutiny on the operations of the Freight segment,” they write.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 20, 2026

The CAR-T therapy is manufactured by Autolus, a spin-out company from University College London.

From BBC • Jan. 13, 2026

A UCL spin-out, AtoCap, is currently developing ways to deliver drugs inside cells to target pathogens hiding there.

From Science Daily • Nov. 8, 2023

This work resulted in the birth of the photonic AI company, Salience Labs, a spin-out from the University of Oxford.

From Science Daily • Oct. 19, 2023

On my mark it is T minus thirty minutes to spin-out check.

From Where I Wasn't Going by Richmond, Walt

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.