What does "spin" mean?
Rapid circular motion.
Spin
/spɪn/ noun, verb, slang
noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: Rapid circular motion.
- Grammar: spin is listed as noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: twirl, twist, whirl, advance.
- Useful contrasts: honest reporting, no rotation, zero rotation.
- Usage evidence: The room started to spin after I drank too much.
How to use "spin"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "spin" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "spin" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "spin" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "spin" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "spin" is acting as noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "twirl" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "spin", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Rapid circular motion. countable, uncountable
"The car went into a spin."
- 2 Clipping of spinnaker. abbreviation, alt-of, clipping
"“Frank!” Joe yelled. “Run the spin halyard to the cabin-top winch and pass me the free end!”"
- 3 A special interest of an autistic person. slang
"berdly if your friends were homestuck characters who would they be. //sorry autism wants me dead, berdlys my fav character and hs is my spin. you will never heard the end of it from me"
- 4 a distinctive interpretation (especially as used by politicians to sway public opinion) wordnet
- 5 A state of confusion or disorientation. countable, uncountable
"My mind was in a spin."
Show 16 more definitions
- 6 rapid descent of an aircraft in a steep spiral wordnet
- 7 A quantum angular momentum associated with subatomic particles, which also creates a magnetic moment. countable, uncountable
- 8 a short drive in a car wordnet
- 9 A novel, creative variation of an existing thing or type; a twist. countable, uncountable
"The media has been having a field day not only with the usual tired homophobic innuendos (which one has come to expect) but with new spins on queer bashing that might even seem inventive if they were not so hateful."
- 10 the act of rotating rapidly wordnet
- 11 A favourable comment or interpretation intended to bias opinion on an otherwise unpleasant situation. countable, figuratively, uncountable
"spin doctor"
- 12 a swift whirling motion (usually of a missile) wordnet
- 13 Rotation of the ball as it flies through the air; sideways movement of the ball as it bounces. countable, uncountable
- 14 A condition of flight where a stalled aircraft is simultaneously pitching, yawing, and rolling in a spinning motion. countable, uncountable
- 15 An abnormal condition in journal bearings where the bearing seizes to the rotating shaft and rotates inside the journal, destroying both the shaft and the journal. countable, uncountable
- 16 A brief trip by vehicle, especially one made for pleasure. countable, uncountable
"I'm off out for a spin in my new sports car."
- 17 A bundle of spun material; a mass of strands and filaments. countable, uncountable
"She left him alone, and went to get Annie a spin of toffee."
- 18 A single play of a record; especially, one broadcast by a radio station. countable, uncountable
"Let's give this classic LP another spin."
- 19 A search of a prisoner's cell for forbidden articles. UK, countable, slang, uncountable
"Mr Weedon explains that this is a cell search - known by prisoners as a spin - and for obvious reasons it has to be carried out without any warning."
- 20 An unmarried woman; a spinster. countable, dated, uncountable
"1893, Bithia Mary Croker, "To Let" in "To Let" etc., Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott, 1906, p. 1, https://archive.org/details/toletcroker00crok Some years ago, when I was a slim young spin, I came out to India to live with my brother Tom […]"
- 21 The use of an exercise bicycle, especially as part of a gym class. uncountable
Verb
- 1 To rotate, revolve, gyrate (usually quickly); to partially or completely rotate to face another direction. ergative
"I spun myself around a few times."
- 2 prolong or extend wordnet
- 3 To rotate, revolve, gyrate (usually quickly); to partially or completely rotate to face another direction.; To enter, or remain in, a spin (abnormal stalled flight mode). ergative
- 4 twist and turn so as to give an intended interpretation wordnet
- 5 To rotate, revolve, gyrate (usually quickly); to partially or completely rotate to face another direction.; To cause one's aircraft to enter or remain in a spin (abnormal stalled flight mode). ergative
Show 24 more definitions
- 6 work natural fibers into a thread wordnet
- 7 To make yarn by twisting and winding fibers together. transitive
"They spin the cotton into thread."
- 8 form a web by making a thread wordnet
- 9 To present, describe, or interpret, or to introduce a bias or slant, so as to give something a favorable or advantageous appearance. figuratively
"But because he is but briefe, and these things of great consequence not to be kept obscure, I shall conceave it nothing above my duty either for the difficulty or the censure that may passe thereon, to communicate such thoughts as I also have had, and do offer them now in this generall labour of reformation, to the candid view both of Church and Magistrate; especially because I see it the hope of good men, that those irregular and unspirituall Courts have spun their utmost date in this Land; and some beter course must now be constituted."
- 10 make up a story wordnet
- 11 To make the ball move sideways when it bounces on the pitch.
"This pitch is usually preferred for spin than pace."
- 12 revolve quickly and repeatedly around one's own axis wordnet
- 13 To move sideways when bouncing.
"Spinning the ball gave him figures of 7-48."
- 14 cause to spin wordnet
- 15 To form into thin strips or ribbons, as with sugar
- 16 stream in jets, of liquids wordnet
- 17 To form (a web, a cocoon, silk, etc.) 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.
"I spin a thread that you can't see / A web of thoughts best left unclean"
- 18 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.
- 19 To move swiftly.
"to spin along the road in a carriage, on a bicycle, etc."
- 20 To stream or issue in a thread or a small current or jet.
"Blood spins from a vein."
- 21 To wait in a loop until some condition becomes true. intransitive
- 22 To rotate into the gravel or managing to remain on the straight as a result of bad weather. intransitive
"His car spun in the rains just after finishing lap four."
- 23 To play (vinyl records, etc.) as a disc jockey. informal, transitive
"However, for the past six years he has been spinning his novel blend of progressive house and trance music and is finally on the brink of becoming the next luminary DJ."
- 24 To use an exercise bicycle, especially as part of a gym class. intransitive
- 25 To ride a bicycle at a fast cadence. intransitive
- 26 To search rapidly. UK, slang, transitive
"But then again, unless someone struck lucky in those first few hours, there weren't even enough detectives to spin a drum [house]."
- 27 To draw out tediously; prolong. transitive
"to spin a yarn"
- 28 To fish with a swivel or spoonbait.
- 29 To reject at an examination; to fail (a student). archaic, slang, transitive
Antonyms
Example
"The room started to spin after I drank too much."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "spin"?
Common synonyms include: twirl, twist, whirl, advance, airbrushing, airing.
How do you use "spin" in a sentence?
The room started to spin after I drank too much.
How do you pronounce "spin"?
Pronounced /spɪn/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English spinnen, from Old English spinnan, from Proto-Germanic *spinnaną, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)penh₁-. Cognates Cognate with Dutch, German spinnen (“to spin”), Luxembourgish spannen (“to spin”), Yiddish שפּינען (shpinen, “spin”), Danish spinde (“to spin”), Faroese, Icelandic and Swedish spinna (“to spin”), Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk spinne (“to spin”), Gothic 𐍃𐍀𐌹𐌽𐌽𐌰𐌽 (spinnan, “to spin”).
Etymology 2
Clipping of special interest.