GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English

last match results

Found 2 definitions

1.       
   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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2.       
   Spun (spŭn), imp. & p. p. of Spin.
   
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   Spun hay, hay twisted into ropes for convenient carriage, as on a military expedition. -- Spun silk, a cheap article produced from floss, or short-fibered, broken, and waste silk, carded and spun, in distinction from the long filaments wound from the cocoon. It is often mixed with cotton. -- Spun yarn (Naut.), a line formed of two or more rope-yarns loosely twisted.
   
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