Spin

• POS: Noun, Verb (usu participle), Verb (intransitive), Verb (transitive)

CIDE DICTIONARY

Spin, v. t. [AS. spinnan; akin to D. & G. spinnen, Icel. & Sw. spinna, Dan. spinde, Goth. spinnan, and probably to E. span. Span, v. t., Spider.].

•  To draw out, and twist into threads, either by the hand or machinery; as, to spin wool, cotton, or flax; to spin goat's hair; to produce by drawing out and twisting a fibrous material.  [1913 Webster]

  "All the yarn she [Penelope] spun in Ulysses' absence did but fill Ithaca full of moths."  [1913 Webster]
•  To draw out tediously; to form by a slow process, or by degrees; to extend to a great length; -- with out; as, to spin out large volumes on a subject.  [1913 Webster]

  "Do you mean that story is tediously spun out?"  [1913 Webster]
•  To protract; to spend by delays; as, to spin out the day in idleness.  [1913 Webster]

  "By one delay after another they spin out their whole lives."  [1913 Webster]
•  To cause to turn round rapidly; to whirl; to twirl; as, to spin a top.  [1913 Webster]
•  To form (a web, a cocoon, silk, or the like) 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.  [1913 Webster]
•  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.  [1913 Webster]

To spin a yarn (Naut.), to tell a story, esp. a long or fabulous tale. -- To spin hay (Mil.), to twist it into ropes for convenient carriage on an expedition. -- To spin street yarn, to gad about gossiping. [Collog.]

Spin, v. i. 

•  To practice spinning; to work at drawing and twisting threads; to make yarn or thread from fiber; as, the woman knows how to spin; a machine or jenny spins with great exactness.  [1913 Webster]

  "They neither know to spin, nor care to toll."  [1913 Webster]
•  To move round rapidly; to whirl; to revolve, as a top or a spindle, about its axis.  [1913 Webster]

  "Round about him spun the landscape,
  Sky and forest reeled together."  [1913 Webster]

  "With a whirligig of jubilant mosquitoes spinning about each head."  [1913 Webster]
•  To stream or issue in a thread or a small current or jet; as, blood spinsfrom a vein.  Shak.  [1913 Webster]
•  To move swifty; as, to spin along the road in a carriage, on a bicycle, etc.  [1913 Webster]

Spin, n. 

•  The act of spinning; as, the spin of a top; a spin a bicycle.  [1913 Webster]
•  Velocity of rotation about some specified axis.  [1913 Webster]
•  an interpretation of an event which is favorable to the interpreter or to the person s/he supports. A person whose task is to provide such interpretations for public relations purposes is called a spin doctor.  [PJC]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Spin, v. & n.
--v. (spinning; past and past part. spun)
1 intr. & tr. turn or cause (a person or thing) to turn or whirl round quickly.
2 tr. (also absol.) a draw out and twist (wool, cotton, etc.) into threads. b make (yarn) in this way. c make a similar type of thread from (a synthetic substance etc.).
3 tr. (of a spider, silkworm, etc.) make (a web, gossamer, a cocoon, etc.) by extruding a fine viscous thread.
4 tr. tell or write (a story, essay, article, etc.) (spins a good tale).
5 tr. impart spin to (a ball).
6 intr. (of a person's head etc.) be dizzy through excitement, astonishment, etc.
7 tr. shape (metal) on a mould in a lathe etc.
8 intr. esp. Cricket (of a ball) move through the air with spin.
9 tr. (as spun adj.) converted into threads (spun glass; spun gold; spun sugar).
10 tr. fish in (a stream, pool, etc.) with a spinner.
11 tr. toss (a coin).
12 tr. = spin-dry.
--n.
1 a spinning motion; a whirl.
2 an aircraft's diving descent combined with rotation.
3 a a revolving motion through the air, esp. in a rifle bullet or in a billiard, tennis, or table tennis ball struck aslant. b Cricket a twisting motion given to the ball in bowling.
4 colloq. a brief drive in a motor vehicle, aeroplane, etc., esp. for pleasure.
5 Physics the intrinsic angular momentum of an elementary particle.
6 Austral. & NZ sl. a piece of good or bad luck.

Idiom

spin bowler Cricket an expert at bowling with spin. spin-drier a machine for drying wet clothes etc. centrifugally in a revolving drum. spin-dry (-dries, -dried) dry (clothes etc.) in this way. spin off throw off by centrifugal force in spinning. spin-off n. an incidental result or results esp. as a side benefit from industrial technology. spin out
1 prolong (a discussion etc.).
2 make (a story, money, etc.) last as long as possible.
3 spend or consume (time, one's life, etc., by discussion or in an occupation etc.).
4 Cricket dismiss (a batsman or side) by spin bowling. spin a yarn orig. Naut. tell a story. spun silk a cheap material made of short-fibred and waste silk. spun yarn Naut. a line formed of rope-yarns twisted together.

Etymology

OE spinnan

THESAURUS

Spin

Charybdis, Sunday drive, advance, airing, angle, angular momentum, angular motion, angular velocity, ascend, axial motion, back, back up, bait the hook, bank, bob, bowling, budge, centrifugate, centrifugation, centrifuge, change, change place, circle, circulate, circulation, circumgyration, circumrotate, circumrotation, circumvolute, clam, climb, come about, concoct, continue, crab, crack up, crank, crash, dap, derive, descend, devise, dib, dibble, dip, dizzy, dizzy round, drag out, draw out, drive, ebb, eddy, excursion, extend, fabricate, feather, fetch about, filament, fish, fishtail, flat spin, flow, fluster, fly-fish, full circle, get over, giddy, gig, gin, go, go about, go around, go fishing, go round, go sideways, grig, guddle, gurge, gyrate, gyration, gyre, heel, invent, jack, jacklight, jaunt, jig, joyride, keep alive, keep going, lift, loop, maelstrom, make up, mix up, mount, move, move over, muddle, narrate, net, oscillate, outing, pendulate, perpetuate, pickup, pirouette, pivot, pivot about, pivoting, plow, plunge, porpoise, produce, progress, prolong, protract, pull out, pull up, purl, push down, put about, rat race, recount, reel, reeling, regress, relate, retail, retrogress, revolution, revolve, revolving, ride, rise, roll, rolling, rotate, rotating, rotation, rotational motion, round, run, screw, seine, separate, shift, shred, shrimp, sideslip, sink, skid, soar, spin off, spin out, spinning, spiral, still-fish, stir, stream, stretch out, stunt, subside, surge, swim, swing, swing round, swinging, swirl, swirling, swivel, swiveling, tailspin, tell, torch, tour, travel, trawl, troll, trolling, trundling, turbination, turn, turn a pirouette, turn about, turn around, turn round, turn tail, turning, twirl, twirling, twist, undulate, unfold, veer, veer around, vibrate, volutation, volution, vortex, wamble, wane, weave, whale, wheel, wheel about, wheeling, whir, whirl, whirligig, whirling, whirlpool, whirlwind, wind, yaw

ROGET THESAURUS

Spin

Rejection

VB reject, set aside, lay aside, give up, decline, exclude, except, pluck, spin, cast, repudiate, scout, set at naught, fling to the winds, fling to the dogs, fling overboard, fling away, cast to the winds, cast to the dogs, cast overboard, cast away, throw to the winds, throw to the dogs, throw overboard, throw away, toss to the winds, toss to the dogs, toss overboard, toss away, send to the right about, disclaim, discard.

Rotation

VB rotate, roll along, revolve, spin, turn round, circumvolve, circulate, gyre, gyrate, wheel, whirl, pirouette, twirl, trundle, troll, bowl, roll up, furl, wallow, welter, box the compass, spin like a top, spin like a teetotum, spin out.