spinner

American  

[spin-er] / ˈspɪn ər /

noun

• spinners
  plural

1. a person or thing that spins.

2. Angling. a lure, as a spoon bait, that revolves in the water in trolling and casting.

3. Also called spinner play.  Football. a play in which the player carrying the ball twirls about, to deceive the other team as to where the player intends to hit the line.

4. Aeronautics. a streamlined fairing over a propeller hub.

5. British Informal. nightjar.

6. Slang. a disc jockey.

---

spinner British  

/ ˈspɪnə /

noun

1. a person or thing that spins

2. informal a spin doctor

3. cricket

   1. a ball that is bowled with a spinning motion

   2. a bowler who specializes in bowling such balls

4. a streamlined fairing that fits over and revolves with the hub of an aircraft propeller

5. a fishing lure with a fin or wing that revolves when drawn through the water

6. an angler's name for the mature adult form (imago) of various flies, especially the mayflies Compare dun 2

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• underspinner
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• spinners
  plural

Etymology

Origin of spinner

First recorded in 1175–1225, spinner is from the Middle English word spinnere. See spin, -er ¹

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

spinner spinners

In seamer Mohammad Abbas and spinner Sajid Khan, they have bowlers who have caused England trouble in the past.

From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026

Bates, an uncapped Australian spinner, finished as the tournament's joint-leading wicket-taker with 13, at an average of 14.46, while Phillips has bucked the general trend by standing out as an English domestic player.

From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026

There will always be anglers who prefer a worm or an old-style spinner, topwater or crankbait.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026

Perhaps England could have pushed towards 290, but Axar induced Dawson into a pull to deep square, then the left-arm spinner mopped up the tail.

From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026

Whew, I’m a good spinner, but I was getting worried about how long I could keep it up when Golden-Miranda rushed in.

From "The World According to Humphrey" by Betty G. Birney

Lawrence played on-drives off the seamers and sweeps off the spinners.

From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026

They played the spinners well, keeping control of the required rate.

From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2026

England will have to decide between spinners Rehan Ahmed and Shoaib Bashir, while McCullum suggested the switch between Stokes and Smith is likely.

From BBC ● May 29, 2026

When slime, fidget spinners and other tactile toys started catching on, the company looked to create a product that could compete.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 28, 2026

“If you add up all the players in the prophecy, two over, two under, two fliers, two crawlers, two spinners, one gnawer, and one lost, you have twelve,” said Vikus gravely.

From "Gregor the Overlander" by Suzanne Collins

Related Words

• gyroscope