to extend or protract (a story, etc) by including superfluous detail; prolong
to spend or pass (time)
to contrive to cause (money, etc) to last as long as possible
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]
Rotate out of control, as in The car spun out and crashed into the store window . [Mid-1900s]
First recorded in 1950–55; noun use of verb phrase spin out
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Shares have performed well since their spin-out from DuPont in November.
From Barron's ● May 12, 2026
“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
Nonetheless, the coating is available commercially through her spin-out company Seram Coatings.
From BBC ● Nov. 21, 2024
The research was supported by the Stanley Medical Research Institute and Psyomics, a University spin-out company co-founded by Sabine Bahn.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 25, 2023
On my mark it is T minus thirty minutes to spin-out check.
From Where I Wasn't Going by Richmond, Walt
“Spider-Man” star Tom Holland won’t spin out too many details about his under-the-radar wedding with Zendaya, except that it’s already happened.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 16, 2026
Because Netflix is proposing to spin out the Discovery shares, the bidding war will be decided by what investors think those are worth.
From Barron's ● Feb. 18, 2026
Leclerc survived a huge, high-speed spin out of Turn 15 on his first lap, but he fared better than team-mate Lewis Hamilton, who is having his worst weekend of the season.
From BBC ● Nov. 29, 2025
And last month, real estate focused activist Land & Buildings reiterated a previous push for Six Flags to sell or spin out its real estate into a real-estate investment trust.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2025
Things felt as if they were accelerating, about to spin out of control.
From "Pet" by Akwaeke Emezi
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.
