Definition of "spin"

spin¹

/spɪn/

verb
third-person singular simple present spins, present participle spinning, simple past spun or (uncommon) span or (nonstandard) spinned, past participle spun or (nonstandard) spinned
1. (ergative) To rotate, revolve, gyrate (usually quickly); to partially or completely rotate to face another direction.
  Quotations
  Round about him spun the landscape, / Sky and forest reeled together, / And his strong heart leaped within him, / As the sturgeon leaps and struggles / In a net to break its meshes.
  1855, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “Hiawatha’s Fasting”, in The Song of Hiawatha, Boston: Ticknor and Fields, page 76
2. (transitive) To make yarn by twisting and winding fibers together.
  Quotations
  Along the Sunny Bank, or Wat’ry Mead, / Ten thouſand Stalks their various Bloſſoms ſpread : / Peaceful and lowly in their native Soil, / They neither know to ſpin, nor care to toil ; / Yet with confeſs’d Magnificence deride / Our vile Attire, and Impotence of Pride.
  1718, Matthew Prior, “Solomon on the Vanity of the World”, in Poems on Several Occasions, volume II, Dublin: George Grierson, published 1738, book I, page 115
3. (figurative) To present, describe, or interpret, or to introduce a bias or slant, so as to give something a favorable or advantageous appearance.
  Quotations
  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.
  1643, John Milton, Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce
  In every administration there will be spokesmen and public affairs officers who try to spin the news to make the president look good. But this administration is trying to spin scientific data and muzzle scientists toward that end.
  2006 February 9, “The Politics of Science”, in The Washington Post‎, page A22
  This past week […] Republicans completed their journey through the looking-glass, spinning a new counternarrative of that deadly day.
  2021 July 31, Lisa Lerer, Nicholas Fandos, “Already Distorting Jan. 6, G.O.P. Now Concocts Entire Counternarrative”, in The New York Times‎
4. (cricket, of a bowler) To make the ball move sideways when it bounces on the pitch.
5. (cricket, of a ball) To move sideways when bouncing.
6. (cooking) To form into thin strips or ribbons, as with sugar
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. To move swiftly.
10. To stream or issue in a thread or a small current or jet.
  Quotations
  Mount them, and make inciſion in their Hides, / That their hot blood may ſpin in Engliſh eyes, / And doubt them with ſuperfluous courage : ha.
  1599, William Shakespeare, “The Life of Henry the Fift”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act IV, scene ii], page 86, column 1
11. (computing, programming, intransitive) To wait in a loop until some condition becomes true.
12. (transitive, informal) To play (vinyl records, etc.) as a disc jockey.
  Quotations
  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.
  2002, CMJ New Music Report, volume 70, number 12
13. (cycling, intransitive)
  1. To use an exercise bicycle, especially as part of a gym class.
  2. To ride a bicycle at a fast cadence.
14. (UK, law enforcement, slang, transitive) To search rapidly.
  Quotations
  But then again, unless someone struck lucky in those first few hours, there weren't even enough detectives to spin a drum [house].
  2013, Nick Oldham, Psycho Alley
15. (transitive) To draw out tediously; prolong.
noun
countable and uncountable, plural spins
1. Rapid circular motion.
2. A state of confusion or disorientation.
3. (physics) A quantum angular momentum associated with subatomic particles, which also creates a magnetic moment.
4. (countable, uncountable) A favourable comment or interpretation intended to bias opinion on an otherwise unpleasant situation.
  Quotations
  He added: "We've always had spin, especially from Government. But this is not spin. This is dishonesty and so it's our rail media's urgent responsibility to call it out because non-specialist journalists across the country will report this and gradually these untruths will be accepted.
  2022 January 26, Paul Stephen, “Network News: Government's IRP claims condemned as "dishonest"”, in RAIL, number 949, page 7
5. (sports) Rotation of the ball as it flies through the air; sideways movement of the ball as it bounces.
6. (aviation) A condition of flight where a stalled aircraft is simultaneously pitching, yawing, and rolling in a spinning motion.
7. (mechanical engineering) 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.
8. A brief trip by vehicle, especially one made for pleasure.
  Quotations
  Time is running out, so I renounce a spin on a Class 387 for a fast run to Paddington on another Class 800 - a shame as the weather was perfect for pictures. Even so, it's enjoyable - boy, can those trains shift under the wires.
  2020 December 2, Paul Bigland, “My weirdest and wackiest Rover yet”, in Rail, page 68
9. A bundle of spun material; a mass of strands and filaments.
  Quotations
  She left him alone, and went to get Annie a spin of toffee.
  1913, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, chapter 1, in Sons and Lovers, London: Duckworth & Co. […]
10. A single play of a record; especially, one broadcast by a radio station.
  Quotations
  Although the Loveless title showed the smallest increase in airplay in the top 10, its number of detections outpaced the nearest bulleted title by more than 350 spins.
  1996, Billboard, volume 108, number 12, page 37
11. (UK, prison slang) A search of a prisoner's cell for forbidden articles.
  Quotations
  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.
  2002, Jeffrey Archer, A Prison Diary
12. (dated) An unmarried woman; a spinster.
  Quotations
  Some years ago, when I was a slim young spin, I came out to India to live with my brother Tom […]
  1893, Bithia Mary Croker, "To Let" in "To Let" etc., Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott, 1906, p. 1
13. (uncountable) The use of an exercise bicycle, especially as part of a gym class.

spin²

/spɪn/

noun
plural spins
1. (nautical) Short for spinnaker.
  Quotations
  “Frank!” Joe yelled. “Run the spin halyard to the cabin-top winch and pass me the free end!”
  2021 22 April, “jdale” (username), Course for Catastrophe, chapter 4

spin³

/spɪn/

noun
plural spins
1. (informal, used among autistic people) Special interest of an autistic person.