spin
[verb]
Synonyms:
- revolve, gyrate, pirouette, reel, rotate, turn, twirl, whirl
- reel, swim, whirl
[noun]
Synonyms:
- revolution, gyration, roll, whirl
- drive, joy ride (informal), ride

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Related Idioms: spin like a top, be in a whirl
Related Words: revolve, rotate, wheel, swirl, oscillate, pendulate, vibrate, dizzy, giddy, fluster, mix up, muddle

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English Thesaurus: turn, go around, revolve/rotate, spin, whirl, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

I. spin¹ S3 /spɪn/ 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 Synonym : 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)

3. American English if a car spins out, the driver loses control of it and the car spins around

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

II. spin² 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 Synonym : 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

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

spin
noun
I. fast turning movement
ADJ. quick, rapid | slow | back (also backspin), top (also topspin) She puts heavy topspin on her serve.
VERB + SPIN go into He had to stop the helicopter from going into a spin.
come out of | put sb/sth in(to), send sb/sth into (figurative) The president's death sent the stock market into a spin.
give sth Give the washing another spin.
impart, put on How do you put more spin on the ball?
SPIN + NOUN bowler | bowling

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

spin
II. on information
ADJ. positive
VERB + SPIN put on The chairman tried to put a positive spin on the closure of the factory.
SPIN + NOUN doctor government spin doctors
PREP. with a ~ The film retells the famous legend with a Marxist spin.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

spin
verb
ADV. fast, quickly, rapidly The blade spins very fast.
freely The wheel can now spin freely.
around/round, away, back He spun round to face her.
VERB + SPIN begin to, start to | make sth (figurative) The wine made my head spin.
PHRASES spin like a top The engine stopped. The dinghy spun like a top and a huge wave came at me.
spin on your heel She spun on her heel and walked out of the room.
spin out of control The car spun out of control.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

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.
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.
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.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲