SPIN | Definition and Meaning

Definition of Spin

Spin

Definition/Meaning

(verb)

To turn or cause to turn around a central point.

e.g. The dancer's spin was the highlight of the performance.

(verb)

to feel a sensation of dizziness, as if one is whirling, used to refer to a person's head;

e.g. His head began to spin when he thought about the massive scale of the universe.

(verb)

to whirl or revolve while undergoing regular motion, or to cause something to do this;

e.g. The tennis player tried to spin the ball when she hit it to her opponent.

(verb)

to draw out fibers of a material such as wool or cotton, in order to form thread or yarn;

e.g. She planned to spin the wool from the sheep into a bundle of yarn.

(verb)

to produce fine, viscous threads that form silk in order to construct something such as a web or a cocoon, used to describe the behavior of a spider or a silkworm;

e.g. A spider began to spin its web between the bars of the gate.

(verb)

to offer a particular perspective or interpretation of a story or a piece of information;

e.g. He wanted to spin the news so that it presented his team's work in a better light.

(verb)

to stretch out or prolong a communication or account of something, often by fabricating or evolving the content using one's imagination (usually used as "spin out");

e.g. He tried to spin out his retelling of the incident to make it seem more exciting.

(noun)

a whirling, turning, revolving motion, or the action of being engaged in such motion;

e.g. The dancing couple executed a graceful spin to complete their performance.

(noun)

a revolving motion of something while it is also in a regular state of motion, typically used to describe the behavior of a moving ball;

e.g. The bowler in the cricket game put some spin on the ball in order to mislead the batsman.

(noun)

in informal usage, a brief ride or trip in a vehicle (especially a wheeled vehicle on land), usually for pleasure;

e.g. We went for a spin in the new car to see how fast it could go.

(noun)

a particular perspective, interpretation, or bias/emphasis offered when presenting ideas, in order to influence the resulting opinions or impressions of the ideas;

e.g. He tried to put a positive spin on the news to prevent them from being discouraged.

(noun)

a creative and unusual twist or variation of something;

e.g. She created her own spin on a traditional dish.

(noun)

in physics, the rotation of a subatomic particle around its axis, considered as a characteristic of the particle, or the angular momentum of such a rotation defined as the direction of a known magnitude;

e.g. The spin of the electrons determines the structure of the molecule.