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spinning wheel

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noun
  1. 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.
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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

Examples from the Web for spinning wheel

Historical Examples

  • 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.

British Dictionary definitions for spinning wheel

spinning wheel

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