SPINDLE

I. noun Etymology: Middle English spindel, from Old English spinel; akin to Old English spinnan to spin Date: 12th century 1. a round stick with tapered ends used to form and twist the yarn in hand spinning, the long slender pin by which the thread is twisted in a spinning wheel, any of various rods or pins holding a bobbin in a textile machine (as a spinning frame), the pin in a loom shuttle, a device usually consisting of a long upright pin in a base on which papers can be stuck for filing, something shaped like a ~: as, a ~-shaped network of chiefly microtubular fibers along which the chromosomes are distributed during mitosis and meiosis, muscle ~ , 3. the bar or shaft usually of square section that carries the knobs and actuates the latch or bolt of a lock, b. a turned often decorative piece (as in a baluster), newel , c. a revolving piece especially when thinner than a shaft, a horizontal or vertical axle revolving on pin or pivot ends, the part of an axle on which a vehicle wheel turns, II. verb (~d; spindling) Date: 1577 intransitive verb to shoot or grow into a long slender stalk, to grow to stalk or stem rather than to flower or fruit, transitive verb to impale, thrust, or perforate on the spike of a ~ file, to make or equip (as a piece of furniture) with ~s, ~r noun