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Webster's Dictionary (1865)

2 entries under this word

Spin

Spin, v. t.

verbtransitive

v. t. [imp. & p. p. SPUN; p. pr. & vb. n. SPINNING.] [A-S., Goth., & O. H. Ger. spinnen, N. H. Ger. & D. spinnen, Icel. & Sw. spinna, Dan. spinde, allied to span.] 1. 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. All the yarn she [Penelope] spun in Ulysses’ absence did but fill Ithaca with moths. Shak.

  1. 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.
  2. To protract; to spend by delays; as, to spin out the day in idleness.

By one delay after another they spin out their whole lives. L’Estrange.

  1. To whirl with a thread; to turn or cause to whirl; to twirl; as, to spin a top.
  2. To form, as a thread or filament, by the extrusion of a viscid, transparent liquid, which hardens on coming into contact with the air;—said of the spider, the silk-worm, and the like.
  3. (Mach.) To shape, as metal, by revolving as in a lathe, and pressing against it with a roller or hand-tool.

To spin a yarn (Naut.), to tell a long tale.—To spin hay (Mil.), to twist it into ropes for convenient carriage on an expedition.

Spin, v. i.

verbintransitive

v. i. 1. To practice spinning; to work at drawing and twisting threads; as, the woman knows how to spin.

They neither know to spin, nor care to toil. Prior.

Sense 2. To perform the act of drawing and twisting threads; as, a machine or jenny spins with great exactness.

Sense 3. To move round rapidly; to whirl, as a top or a spindle.

Sense 4. To stream or issue in a thread or small current; as, blood spins from a vein.