Spindle definition

spĭndl
spindled spindles spindling
See word origin
Frequency:
Any of various long thin stationary rods, as:
  • A spike on which papers may be impaled.
  • A baluster.
noun
1
1
A similar rod or pin used for spinning on a spinning wheel.
noun
0
0
A pin or rod holding a bobbin or spool on which thread is wound on an automated spinning machine.
noun
0
0
To furnish or equip with a spindle or spindles.
verb
0
0
To impale or perforate on a spindle.

Do not fold, spindle, or mutilate this card.

verb
0
0
Advertisement
To grow into a thin, elongated, or weak form.
verb
0
0
A slender rod or pin used in spinning.
  • In hand spinning, a rounded rod, usually wooden, tapering toward each end, for twisting into thread the fibers pulled from the material on the distaff, and notched at one end so as to hold the thread.
  • On a spinning wheel, the rod by which the thread is twisted and on which it is then wound.
  • In a spinning machine, any of the rods holding the bobbins on which the spun thread is wound.
noun
0
0
A measure for yarn, equal to 14,400 yards in linen or 15,120 yards in cotton.
noun
0
0
A short turned piece or decorative rod, as a baluster or element in some chair backs.
noun
0
0
Any rod, pin, or shaft that revolves or serves as an axis for a revolving part, as an axle, arbor, or mandrel.
noun
0
0
Advertisement
In a lathe, a shaftlike part (live spindle) that rotates while holding the thing to be turned, or a similar part (dead spindle) that does not rotate.
noun
0
0
A metal spike on a base, on which papers are impaled for temporary filing.
noun
0
0
(biol.) The spindle-shaped bundle of nuclear fibers formed during one stage of mitosis.
noun
0
0
(lockmaking) The small, square shaft passing through a door lock, to which the doorknobs are attached.
noun
0
0
noun
0
0
Advertisement
Of or like a spindle or spindles.
adjective
0
0
To grow in a long, slender shape.
verb
0
0
To grow into a long, slender stalk or stem.
verb
0
0
To form into a spindle.
verb
0
0
To fit or equip with a spindle.
verb
0
0
Advertisement
To impale (papers, etc.) on a spindle.
verb
0
0
(biology) A cytoplasmic network composed of microtubules along which the chromosomes are distributed during mitosis and meiosis.
noun
0
0
A network of protein fibers that forms in the cytoplasm of a cell during cell division. The spindle grows forth from the centrosomes and attaches to the chromosomes after the latter have been duplicated, and the nuclear membrane dissolves. Once attached, the spindle fibers contract, pulling the duplicate chromosomes apart to opposite poles of the dividing cell.
0
0
(spinning) A rod used for spinning and then winding natural fibres (especially wool), usually consisting of a shaft and a circular whorl positioned at either the upper or lower end of the shaft when suspended vertically from the forming thread.
noun
0
0
A rod which turns, or on which something turns.

The spindle of a vane.

noun
0
0
Advertisement
A rotary axis of a machine tool or power tool.
noun
0
0
A worldwide tree of the genus Euonymus, originally used for making the spindles used for spinning wool.
noun
0
0
An upright spike for holding paper documents by skewering.
noun
0
0
The fusee of a watch.
noun
0
0
A long and slender stalk resembling a spindle.
noun
0
0
Advertisement
A yarn measure containing, in cotton yarn, 15,120 yards; in linen yarn, 14,400 yards.
noun
0
0
(geometry) A solid generated by the revolution of a curved line about its base or double ordinate or chord.
noun
0
0
Any marine univalve shell of the genus Rostellaria; a spindle stromb.
noun
0
0
Any marine gastropod of the genus Fusus.
noun
0
0
To make into a long tapered shape.
verb
0
0
Advertisement
To impale on a device for holding paper documents.

Do not fold, spindle or mutilate this document.

verb
0
0
The definition of a spindle is a thin rod used for spinning, or a yarn measurement.

An example of a spindle is what sewing thread is spun around.

An example of a spindle is 15,120 yards of cotton yarn.

noun
0
1
Any of various mechanical parts that revolve or serve as axes for larger revolving parts, as in a lock, axle, phonograph turntable, or lathe.
noun
0
1
(biology) A cytoplasmic network composed of microtubules along which the chromosomes are distributed during mitosis and meiosis.
noun
0
1
A rod or pin, tapered at one end and usually weighted at the other, on which fibers are spun by hand into thread and then wound.
noun
0
1
Advertisement

Other Word Forms

Noun

Singular:
spindle
Plural:
spindles

Origin of spindle

  • Middle English spindel alteration of Old English spinel (s)pen- in Indo-European roots

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • From Middle English spindle, spyndel, spyndylle, from Old English spindle, spindel, alteration of earlier spinel, spinil, spinl (“spindle"), from Proto-Germanic *spinnilō (“spindle"), equivalent to spin +"Ž -le. Cognate with Scots spindil, spinnell (“spindle"), Dutch spil ("spindle"; < Middle Dutch spille, spinle), German Spindel (“spindle"), Danish spindel (“spindle"), Swedish spindel (“spindle").

    From Wiktionary

Spindle Sentence Examples

  • These are spindle shaped and have long processes.

  • Bowl turning will require a larger lathe than spindle turning.

  • Never leave the windlass (lock key) on the spindle.

  • It consists of a long screw spindle, coupled by suitable gearing with the cable drum, and thus rotating at the speed of the outgoing cable; on this screw works a nut which forms the centre of a thin 'circular disk, the edge of which is pressed against the surface of a right circular cone, the line of contact, as the nut moves along the screw, being parallel to the axis of the latter.

  • The winged spindle euonymus alatus Rosa roxburghii, when mature, peel and flake in cinnamon tinted hues.

More sentences

Related articles

Also Mentioned In

Words near spindle in the Dictionary