spinning wheel

See more synonyms for spinning wheel on Thesaurus.com

noun

a device formerly used for spinning wool, flax, etc., into yarn or thread, consisting essentially of a single spindle driven by a large wheel operated by hand or foot.

Origin of spinning wheel

late Middle English word dating back to 1375–1425

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for spinning wheel

jenny, mule

Examples from the Web for spinning wheel

Historical Examples of spinning wheel

Only with her spinning-wheel can she keep the wolf from the cabin door.
Daughters of the Revolution and Their Times
Charles Carleton Coffin
I want to go back to my spinning-wheel and I nearly tried it to-day.
Heidi
Johanna Spyri
When you were younger I made you a present of a spinning-wheel; later I sent you finery.
True to His Home
Hezekiah Butterworth
I had nobody to love, nobody who loved me, so I got to loving my spinning-wheel and my own thoughts.
Helen and Arthur
Caroline Lee Hentz
Why, one day he was fain to have me and my spinning-wheel aside him.
The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 17, No. 102, April, 1866
Various

British Dictionary definitions for spinning wheel

spinning wheel

noun

a wheel-like machine for spinning at home, having one hand- or foot-operated spindle

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