Spin (spĭn), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Spun (?) (Archaic imp. Span ()); p. pr. & vb. n. Spinning.] [AS. spinnan; akin to D. & G. spinnen, Icel. & Sw. spinna, Dan. spinde, Goth. spinnan, and probably to E. span. √170. Cf. Span, v. t., Spider.]
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”; to produce by drawing out and twisting a fibrous material.
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All the yarn she [Penelope] spun in Ulysses' absence did but fill Ithaca full of moths. Shak.
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2. 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”.
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Do you mean that story is tediously spun out? Sheridan.
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3. To protract; to spend by delays; as, “to spin out the day in idleness”.
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By one delay after another they spin out their whole lives. L'Estrange.
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4. To cause to turn round rapidly; to whirl; to twirl; as, “to spin a top”.
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5. To form (a web, a cocoon, silk, or the like) from threads produced by the extrusion of a viscid, transparent liquid, which hardens on coming into contact with the air; -- said of the spider, the silkworm, etc.
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6. (Mech.) To shape, as malleable sheet metal, into a hollow form, by bending or buckling it by pressing against it with a smooth hand tool or roller while the metal revolves, as in a lathe.
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To spin a yarn (Naut.), to tell a story, esp. a long or fabulous tale. -- To spin hay (Mil.), to twist it into ropes for convenient carriage on an expedition. -- To spin street yarn, to gad about gossiping. [Collog.]
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Spin (?), v. i.
1. To practice spinning; to work at drawing and twisting threads; to make yarn or thread from fiber; as, “the woman knows how to spin; a machine or jenny spins with great exactness.”
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They neither know to spin, nor care to toll. Prior.
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2. To move round rapidly; to whirl; to revolve, as a top or a spindle, about its axis.
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Round about him spun the landscape,
Sky and forest reeled together. Longfellow.
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With a whirligig of jubilant mosquitoes spinning about each head. G. W. Cable.
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3. To stream or issue in a thread or a small current or jet; as, “blood spinsfrom a vein”. Shak.
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4. To move swifty; as, “to spin along the road in a carriage, on a bicycle, etc.” [Colloq.]
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