GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English
Found 2 definitions
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Spindle , n. [AS. spinal, fr. spinnan to spin; akin to D. spil, G. spille, spindel, OHG. spinnala. √170. See Spin.]
- The long, round, slender rod or pin in spinning wheels by which the thread is twisted, and on which, when twisted, it is wound; also, the pin on which the bobbin is held in a spinning machine, or in the shuttle of a loom.1913 Webster
- A slender rod or pin on which anything turns; an axis; as, the spindle of a vane. Specifically: --1913 Webster
(a) (Mach.) The shaft, mandrel, or arbor, in a machine tool, as a lathe or drilling machine, etc., which causes the work to revolve, or carries a tool or center, etc.
1913 Webster(b) (Mach.) The vertical rod on which the runner of a grinding mill turns.
1913 Webster(c) (Founding) A shaft or pipe on which a core of sand is formed.
1913 Webster - The fusee of a watch.1913 Webster
- A long and slender stalk resembling a spindle.1913 Webster
- A yarn measure containing, in cotton yarn, 15,120 yards; in linen yarn, 14,400 yards.1913 Webster
- (Geom.) A solid generated by the revolution of a curved line about its base or double ordinate or chord.1913 Webster
- (Zool.) (a) Any marine univalve shell of the genus Rostellaria; -- called also spindle stromb. (b) Any marine gastropod of the genus Fusus.1913 Webster
Dead spindle (Mach.), a spindle in a machine tool that does not revolve; the spindle of the tailstock of a lathe. -- Live spindle (Mach.), the revolving spindle of a machine tool; the spindle of the headstock of a turning lathe. -- Spindle shell. (Zool.) See Spindle, 7. above. -- Spindle side, the female side in descent; in the female line; opposed to spear side. Ld. Lytton. [R.] “King Lycaon, grandson, by the spindle side, of Oceanus.” Lowell. -- Spindle tree (Bot.), any shrub or tree of the genus Eunymus. The wood of Eunymus Europaeus was used for spindles and skewers. See Prickwood.
1913 Webster
- The long, round, slender rod or pin in spinning wheels by which the thread is twisted, and on which, when twisted, it is wound; also, the pin on which the bobbin is held in a spinning machine, or in the shuttle of a loom.
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Spindle, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Spindled; p. pr. & vb. n. Spindling .] To shoot or grow into a long, slender stalk or body; to become disproportionately tall and slender.1913 Webster
It has begun to spindle into overintellectuality.
Lowell.1913 Webster