spin

• IPA^(key): /spɪn/

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• Rhymes: -ɪn

From Middle English spinnen, from Old English spinnan, from Proto-Germanic *spinnaną, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)penh₁-. Compare Low German spinnen, Dutch spinnen, German spinnen, Danish spinde, Swedish spinna.

spin (third-person singular simple present spins, present participle spinning, simple past spun or (uncommon) span or (nonstandard) spinned, past participle spun or (nonstandard) spinned)

1. (ergative) To rotate, revolve, gyrate (usually quickly); to partially or completely rotate to face another direction.

   I spun myself around a few times.

   Spin the ball on the floor.

   She spun around and gave him a big smile.

   1. (aviation, of an aircraft) To enter, or remain in, a spin (abnormal stalled flight mode).
   2. (aviation, of a pilot) To cause one's aircraft to enter or remain in a spin (abnormal stalled flight mode).
   • 1855, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “Hiawatha’s Fasting”, in The Song of Hiawatha, Boston: Ticknor and Fields, page 76:

     Round about him spun the landscape, / Sky and forest reeled together, / And his strong heart leaped within him, / As the sturgeon leaps and struggles / In a net to break its meshes.

2. (transitive) To make yarn by twisting and winding fibers together.

   They spin the cotton into thread.

   • 1718, Matthew Prior, “Solomon on the Vanity of the World”, in Poems on Several Occasions, volume II, Dublin: George Grierson, published 1738, book I, page 115:

     Along the Sunny Bank, or Wat’ry Mead, / Ten thouſand Stalks their various Bloſſoms ſpread : / Peaceful and lowly in their native Soil, / They neither know to ſpin, nor care to toil ; / Yet with confeſs’d Magnificence deride / Our vile Attire, and Impotence of Pride.

3. (figurative) To present, describe, or interpret, or to introduce a bias or slant, so as to give something a favorable or advantageous appearance.

   Synonyms: whitewash, sugarcoat, put lipstick on, gild, blandish, dress up

   • 1643, John Milton, Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce:

     But because he is but briefe, and these things of great consequence not to be kept obscure, I shall conceave it nothing above my duty either for the difficulty or the censure that may passe thereon, to communicate such thoughts as I also have had, and do offer them now in this generall labour of reformation, to the candid view both of Church and Magistrate; especially because I see it the hope of good men, that those irregular and unspirituall Courts have spun their utmost date in this Land; and some beter course must now be constituted.

   • 2006 February 9, “The Politics of Science”, in The Washington Post‎, page A22:

     In every administration there will be spokesmen and public affairs officers who try to spin the news to make the president look good. But this administration is trying to spin scientific data and muzzle scientists toward that end.

   • 2021 July 31, Lisa Lerer, Nicholas Fandos, “Already Distorting Jan. 6, G.O.P. Now Concocts Entire Counternarrative”, in The New York Times‎, →ISSN:

     This past week […] Republicans completed their journey through the looking-glass, spinning a new counternarrative of that deadly day.

4. (cricket, of a bowler) To make the ball move sideways when it bounces on the pitch.
5. (cricket, of a ball) To move sideways when bouncing.
6. (cooking) To form into thin strips or ribbons, as with sugar
7. To form (a web, a cocoon, silk, etc.) from threads produced by the extrusion of a viscid, transparent liquid, which hardens on coming into contact with the air; said of the spider, the silkworm, etc.
8. To shape, as malleable sheet metal, into a hollow form, by bending or buckling it by pressing against it with a smooth hand tool or roller while the metal revolves, as in a lathe.
9. To move swiftly.

   to spin along the road in a carriage, on a bicycle, etc.

10. To stream or issue in a thread or a small current or jet.

    Blood spins from a vein.

    • 1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Henry the Fift”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene ii], page 86, column 1:

      Mount them, and make inciſion in their Hides, / That their hot blood may ſpin in Engliſh eyes, / And doubt them with ſuperfluous courage : ha.

11. (computing, programming, intransitive) To wait in a loop until some condition becomes true.
12. (transitive, informal) To play (vinyl records, etc.) as a disc jockey.
    • 2002, CMJ New Music Report, volume 70, number 12:

      However, for the past six years he has been spinning his novel blend of progressive house and trance music and is finally on the brink of becoming the next luminary DJ.

13. (cycling, intransitive)
    1. To use an exercise bicycle, especially as part of a gym class.
    2. To ride a bicycle at a fast cadence.
14. (UK, law enforcement, slang, transitive) To search rapidly.
    • 2013, Nick Oldham, Psycho Alley:

      But then again, unless someone struck lucky in those first few hours, there weren't even enough detectives to spin a drum [house].

15. (transitive) To draw out tediously; prolong.

    Synonym: spin out

    to spin a yarn

16. (fishing) To fish with a swivel or spoonbait.
17. (archaic, transitive, slang) To reject at an examination; to fail (a student).

• revolve
• rotate
• turn

• turn around

spin (countable and uncountable, plural spins)

1. Rapid circular motion.

   The car went into a spin.

   The skaters demonstrated their spins.

   He put some spin on the cue ball.

2. A state of confusion or disorientation.

   My mind was in a spin.

3. (quantum mechanics) A quantum angular momentum associated with subatomic particles, which also creates a magnetic moment.
4. A novel, creative variation of an existing thing or type; a twist.
   • 1991 August 10, Michael Bronski, “'I Know You Are, But What Am I?'”, in Gay Community News, volume 19, number 4, page 1:

     The media has been having a field day not only with the usual tired homophobic innuendos (which one has come to expect) but with new spins on queer bashing that might even seem inventive if they were not so hateful.

5. (countable, uncountable) A favourable comment or interpretation intended to bias opinion on an otherwise unpleasant situation.

   Coordinate terms: coloration, distortion, propaganda

   Try to put a positive spin on the disappointing sales figures.

   The politician was mocked in the press for his reliance on spin rather than facts.

   • 2022 January 26, Paul Stephen, “Network News: Government's IRP claims condemned as "dishonest"”, in RAIL, number 949, page 7:

     He added: "We've always had spin, especially from Government. But this is not spin. This is dishonesty and so it's our rail media's urgent responsibility to call it out because non-specialist journalists across the country will report this and gradually these untruths will be accepted.

6. (sports) Rotation of the ball as it flies through the air; sideways movement of the ball as it bounces.

   Synonym: (informal) swazz

7. (aviation) A condition of flight where a stalled aircraft is simultaneously pitching, yawing, and rolling in a spinning motion.
8. (mechanical engineering) An abnormal condition in journal bearings where the bearing seizes to the rotating shaft and rotates inside the journal, destroying both the shaft and the journal.
9. A brief trip by vehicle, especially one made for pleasure.

   I'm off out for a spin in my new sports car.

   • 2020 December 2, Paul Bigland, “My weirdest and wackiest Rover yet”, in Rail, page 68:

     Time is running out, so I renounce a spin on a Class 387 for a fast run to Paddington on another Class 800 - a shame as the weather was perfect for pictures. Even so, it's enjoyable - boy, can those trains shift under the wires.

10. A bundle of spun material; a mass of strands and filaments.
    • 1913, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, chapter 1, in Sons and Lovers, London: Duckworth & Co. […], →OCLC:

      She left him alone, and went to get Annie a spin of toffee.

11. A single play of a record; especially, one broadcast by a radio station.

    Let's give this classic LP another spin.

    • 1996, Billboard, volume 108, number 12, page 37:

      Although the Loveless title showed the smallest increase in airplay in the top 10, its number of detections outpaced the nearest bulleted title by more than 350 spins.

12. (UK, prison slang) A search of a prisoner's cell for forbidden articles.
    • 2002, Jeffrey Archer, A Prison Diary:

      Mr Weedon explains that this is a cell search - known by prisoners as a spin - and for obvious reasons it has to be carried out without any warning.

13. (dated) An unmarried woman; a spinster.
    • 1893, Bithia Mary Croker, "To Let" in "To Let" etc., Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott, 1906, p. 1,

      Some years ago, when I was a slim young spin, I came out to India to live with my brother Tom […]

14. (uncountable) The use of an exercise bicycle, especially as part of a gym class.

spin (plural spins)

1. (nautical) Short for spinnaker.
   • 2021 22 April, “jdale” (username), Course for Catastrophe, chapter 4:

     “Frank!” Joe yelled. “Run the spin halyard to the cabin-top winch and pass me the free end!”

Shortening of special interest.

• SpIn

spin (plural spins)

1. (informal, used among autistic people) Special interest of an autistic person.

• Insp, NIPs, NPIs, Nips, PINs, PSNI, nips, pins, snip

• IPA^(key): /spɪn/

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• Hyphenation: spin
• Rhymes: -ɪn

From Middle Dutch spinne.

spin f (plural spinnen, diminutive spinnetje n)

1. spider, member of the order Araneae

Borrowed from English spin.

spin m (plural spins)

1. (physics) particle spin

• kernspin

Borrowed from English spin.

spin m (uncountable)

1. political spin, media spin

• spindoctor

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

spin

1. inflection of spinnen:
   1. first-person singular present indicative
   2. imperative

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

• IPA^(key): /spiːn/

spin n (genitive singular spins, uncountable)

1. sperm

• spina

• nisp
• pins

• spinni

Borrowed from English spin.

• IPA^(key): /ˈspin/, [ˈs̠pin]
• Rhymes: -in
• Syllabification^(key): spin

spin

1. (physics) spin

Borrowed from English spin.

• IPA^(key): /spin/

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spin m (plural spins)

1. (physics) spin

• spineur

• “spin”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

From Latin spīnus.

spin m (plural spins)

1. thorn bush

• spine

Cognate with Kokborok siping (“sesame”).

spin

1. sesame

From English spin.[1]

• IPA^(key): [ˈʃpin]
• Rhymes: -in

spin (plural spinek)

1. (physics) spin (quantum angular momentum)

Unadapted borrowing from English spin.

• IPA^(key): /ˈspin/
• Rhymes: -in
• Hyphenation: spìn

spin m (invariable)

1. (physics) spin (an electron's quantum angular momentum)

• spin on the Italian Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^it

spin

1. Alternative form of spyne

• IPA^(key): /spin/

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• Rhymes: -in
• Syllabification: spin

Borrowed from English spin, from Middle English spinnen, from Old English spinnan, from Proto-Germanic *spinnaną, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)penh₁-.

spin m inan

1. (physics) spin (quantum angular momentum)

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

spin f

1. genitive plural of spina

• spin in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• spin in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Unadapted borrowing from English spin.

spin m (plural spins)

1. (physics) spin (quantum angular momentum of subatomic particles)

Inherited from Latin spīnus, from spīna, from Proto-Italic *speinā, from Proto-Indo-European *spey- (“sharp point”). Compare Aromanian schin.

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spin m (plural spini)

1. thorn

   Synonyms: ghimpe, aculeu

• spinos

• IPA^(key): /spɪn/

spin (plural spins)

1. (South Scots) Alternative form of spuin

• espín

Unadapted borrowing from English spin.

• IPA^(key): /esˈpin/ [esˈpĩn]
• Rhymes: -in

spin m (plural spines)

1. (physics) spin (quantum angular momentum of subatomic particles)

According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

spin c (plural spinnen, diminutive spintsje)

1. spider

• “spin”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011

sp