spin

spin

I

spin¹ S3 /spɪn/ verb (past tense and past participle spun /spʌn/, present participle spinning)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
   SYN  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)
     

THESAURUS

   ▪ 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.
spin out phrasal verb
  1. spin something ↔ out British English to make something continue for longer than is necessary
   SYN  drag out:
    I’m paid by the hour, so I spin the work out as long as I can.
  2. spin something ↔ out British English to use money, food etc as carefully and slowly as possible, because you do not have very much of it
    spin something ↔ out over
    I’ve only got £10 left, so we’ll have to spin it out over the whole week.
  3. American English if a car spins out, the driver loses control of it and the car spins around

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
   SYN  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