I. spin 1 S3 /spɪn/ BrE AmE verb ( past tense and past participle spun /spʌn/, present participle spinning )
[ Language: Old English ; Origin: spinnan ]
1 . TURN AROUND [intransitive and transitive] to turn around and around very quickly, or to make something do this:
The plane’s propellers were spinning.
spin (something/somebody) around
She grabbed Norm’s arm and spun him around to face her.
2 . sb’s head is spinning ( also the room is spinning ) if your head or the room is spinning, you feel as if you might ↑ faint (=become unconscious) because you are shocked, excited, or drunk:
I was pouring with sweat, and my head was spinning.
The room started to spin.
3 . SITUATION/INFORMATION [transitive] to describe a situation or information in a way that is intended to influence the way people think about it – used especially about what politicians or business people do:
Supporters attempted to spin the bill’s defeat to their advantage.
4 . spin a tale/story/yarn to tell a story, especially using a lot of imagination:
She spun a story about a trip to Athens to meet one of the authors.
5 . WOOL/COTTON [intransitive and transitive] to make cotton, wool etc into thread by twisting it
6 . DRIVE [intransitive always + adverb/preposition] written to drive or travel quickly SYN speed
spin past/along etc
Barbara spun past in her new sports car.
7 . spin your wheels American English to continue trying to do something without having any success:
I felt like I was just spinning my wheels trying to make him understand.
8 . WET CLOTHES [transitive] British English to get water out of clothes using a machine after you have washed them
9 . INSECT [transitive] if a ↑ spider or insect spins a ↑ web or ↑ cocoon , it produces thread to make it
spin off phrasal verb
to make part of a company into a separate and partly independent company, or to become a separate company
spin something ↔ off
At the time of the merger, Loral spun off its space divisions into a separate firm.
spin off from
Lucent spun off from AT&T several years ago.
⇨ ↑ spin-off (2)
• • •
THESAURUS
▪ turn to move around a central or fixed point:
The wheels of the train began to turn.
▪ go around ( also go round British English ) to turn around a central point. Go around is a little more informal than turn and is very common in everyday English:
When the fan goes around, the warm air is pushed back downwards.
▪ revolve/rotate to turn around and around a central point. Rotate and revolve are more formal than turn and sound more technical:
The Earth rotates on its axis once every twenty-four hours.
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The stage revolves at various points during the performance.
▪ spin to turn around many times very quickly:
The ice skater began to spin faster and faster.
▪ whirl /wɜːl $ wɜːrl/ to spin around extremely quickly, often in a powerful or uncontrolled way:
The blades of the helicopter whirled overhead.
▪ twirl (around) to spin around quickly, especially as part of a dance or performance:
The couples were twirling around on the dance floor.
▪ swirl (around) to move around quickly in a circular movement, especially when the movement goes outwards or upwards from the center:
Her white skirt swirled around her legs as she danced.
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The leaves began to swirl around.
▪ spiral to move in a continuous curve that gets nearer to or further from its central point as it goes around:
The smoke spiralled toward the ceiling.
spin out phrasal verb
1 . spin something ↔ out British English to make something continue for longer than is necessary SYN drag out :
I’m paid by the hour, so I spin the work out as long as I can.
2 . spin something ↔ out British English to use money, food etc as carefully and slowly as possible, because you do not have very much of it
spin something ↔ out over
I’ve only got £10 left, so we’ll have to spin it out over the whole week.
3 . American English if a car spins out, the driver loses control of it and the car spins around
II. spin 2 BrE AmE noun
1 . TURNING [countable] an act of turning around quickly:
the Earth’s spin
The Russian skater finished her routine with a series of spins.
2 . CAR [singular] informal a short trip in a car for pleasure SYN drive :
Let’s go for a spin in the country.
Do you want to take my car for a spin?
3 . BALL [uncountable] if you put spin on a ball in a game such as tennis or ↑ cricket , you deliberately make the ball turn very quickly so that it is difficult for your opponent to hit
4 . INFORMATION [singular, uncountable] the way someone, especially a politician or business person, talks about information or a situation, especially in order to influence the way people think about it:
They tried to put a positive spin on the sales figures.
⇨ ↑ spin doctor
5 . AIRCRAFT [singular] if an aircraft goes into a spin, it falls suddenly, turning around and around
6 . in/into a (flat) spin if you are in a spin, you are very confused and anxious:
The sudden fall on the stock market sent brokers into a spin.
7 . WET CLOTHES give something a spin British English to turn clothes around very fast in a machine to remove water from them