Chapter 81

Spin (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Spun (?) (Archaic imp. Span (&?;)); p. pr. & vb. n. Spinning.] [AS. spinnan; akin to D. & G. spinnen, Icel. & Sw. spinna, Dan. spinde, Goth. spinnan, and probably to E. span. √170. Cf. Span, v. t., Spider.] 1. To draw out, and twist into threads, either by the hand or machinery; as, to spin wool, cotton, or flax; to spin goat's hair; to produce by drawing out and twisting a fibrous material.

All the yarn she [Penelope] spun in Ulysses' absence did but fill Ithaca full of moths.

Shak.

2. To draw out tediously; to form by a slow process, or by degrees; to extend to a great length; -- with out; as, to spin out large volumes on a subject.

Do you mean that story is tediously spun out?

Sheridan.

3. To protract; to spend by delays; as, to spin out the day in idleness.

By one delay after another they spin out their whole lives.

L'Estrange.

4. To cause to turn round rapidly; to whirl; to twirl; as, to spin a top.

5. To form (a web, a cocoon, silk, or the like) 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.

6. (Mech.) 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.

To spin a yarn (Naut.), to tell a story, esp. a long or fabulous tale. -- To spin hay (Mil.), to twist it into ropes for convenient carriage on an expedition. -- To spin street yarn, to gad about gossiping. [Collog.]

Spin (?), v. i. 1. To practice spinning; to work at drawing and twisting threads; to make yarn or thread from fiber; as, the woman knows how to spin; a machine or jenny spins with great exactness.

They neither know to spin, nor care to toll.

Prior.

2. To move round rapidly; to whirl; to revolve, as a top or a spindle, about its axis.

Round about him spun the landscape, Sky and forest reeled together.

Longfellow.

With a whirligig of jubilant mosquitoes spinning about each head.

G. W. Cable.

3. To stream or issue in a thread or a small current or jet; as, blood spinsfrom a vein. Shak.

4. To move swifty; as, to spin along the road in a carriage, on a bicycle, etc. [Colloq.]

Spin, n. 1. The act of spinning; as, the spin of a top; a spin a bicycle. [Colloq.]

2. (Kinematics) Velocity of rotation about some specified axis.

||Spi"na bif"i*da (?). (Med.) [L., cleft spine.] A congenital ||malformation in which the spinal column is cleft at its lower ||portion, and the membranes of the spinal cord project as an elastic ||swelling from the gap thus formed.

Spi*na"ceous (?), a. (Bot.) Of, pertaining to, or resembling, the plant spinach, or the family of plants to which it belongs.

{ Spin"ach, Spin"age } (?), n. [OF. espinache, espinoche, F. épinard; cf. F. spinace, Sp. espinaca; all fr. Ar. isfnj, isfinj, aspankh, probably of Persian origin.] (Bot.) A common pot herb (Spinacia oleracea) belonging to the Goosefoot family.

Mountain spinach. See Garden orache, under Orache. -- New Zealand spinach (Bot.), a coarse herb (Tetragonia expansa), a poor substitute for spinach.

Various other pot herbs are locally called spinach.

Spi"nal (?), a. [L. spinalis, fr. spina the spine: cf. F. spinal. See Spine.] 1. (Anat.) Of, pertaining to, or in the region of, the backbone, or vertebral column; rachidian; vertebral.

2. Of or pertaining to a spine or spines.

Spinal accessory nerves, the eleventh pair of cranial nerves in the higher vertebrates. They originate from the spinal cord and pass forward into the skull, from which they emerge in company with the pneumogastrics. -- Spinal column, the backbone, or connected series or vertebræ which forms the axis of the vertebrate skeleton; the spine; rachis; vertebral column. -- Spinal cord, the great nervous cord extending backward from the brain along the dorsal side of the spinal column of a vertebrate animal, and usually terminating in a threadlike appendage called the filum terminale; the spinal, or vertebral, marrow; the myelon. The nervous tissue consists of nerve fibers and nerve cells, the latter being confined to the so-called gray matter of the central portions of the cord, while the peripheral white matter is composed of nerve fibers only. The center of the cord is traversed by a slender canal connecting with the ventricles of the brain.

Spi"nate (?), a. Bearing a spine; spiniform.

Spin"dle (?), n. [AS. spinal, fr. spinnan to spin; akin to D. spil, G. spille, spindel, OHG. spinnala. √170. See Spin.] 1. 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.

2. A slender rod or pin on which anything turns; an axis; as, the spindle of a vane. Specifically: --

(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.

(b) (Mach.) The vertical rod on which the runner of a grinding mill turns.

(c) (Founding) A shaft or pipe on which a core of sand is formed.

3. The fusee of a watch.

4. A long and slender stalk resembling a spindle.

5. A yarn measure containing, in cotton yarn, 15,120 yards; in linen yarn, 14,400 yards.

6. (Geom.) A solid generated by the revolution of a curved line about its base or double ordinate or chord.

7. (Zoöl.) (a) Any marine univalve shell of the genus Rostellaria; -- called also spindle stromb. (b) Any marine gastropod of the genus Fusus.

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. (Zoöl.) 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 E. Europæus was used for spindles and skewers. See Prickwood.

Spin"dle, 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.

It has begun to spindle into overintellectuality.

Lowell.

Spin"dle-legged` (?), a. Having long, slender legs.

Spin"dle*legs` (?), n. A spindleshanks.

Spin"dle-shanked` (?), a. Having long, slender legs. Addison.

Spin"dle*shanks` (?), n. A person with slender shanks, or legs; -- used humorously or in contempt.

Spin"dle-shaped` (?), a. 1. Having the shape of a spindle.

2. (Bot.) Thickest in the middle, and tapering to both ends; fusiform; -- applied chiefly to roots.

Spin"dle*tail` (?), n. (Zoöl.) The pintail duck. [Local, U.S.]

Spin"dle*worm` (?), n. (Zoöl.) The larva of a noctuid mmoth (Achatodes zeæ) which feeds inside the stalks of corn (maize), sometimes causing much damage. It is smooth, with a black head and tail and a row of black dots across each segment.

Spin"dling (?), a. Long and slender, or disproportionately tall and slender; as, a spindling tree; a spindling boy.

Spine (?), n. [L. spina thorn, the spine; akin to spica a point: cf. OF. espine, F. épine. Cf. Spike, Spinet a musical instrument, Spinny.] 1. (Bot.) A sharp appendage to any of a plant; a thorn.

2. (Zoöl.) (a) A rigid and sharp projection upon any part of an animal. (b) One of the rigid and undivided fin rays of a fish.

3. (Anat.) The backbone, or spinal column, of an animal; -- so called from the projecting processes upon the vertebræ.

4. Anything resembling the spine or backbone; a ridge.

Spine"back` (?), n. (Zoöl.) A fish having spines in, or in front of, the dorsal fins.

Spine"bill` (?), n. (Zoöl.) Any species of Australian birds of the genus Acanthorhynchus. They are related to the honey eaters.

Spined (?), a. Furnished with spines; spiny.

Spine"-finned` (?), a. (Zoöl.) Having fine supported by spinous fin rays; -- said of certain fishes.

{ Spi*nel" (?), Spi*nelle" (?), } n. [F. spinelle, or LL. spinellus, perhaps from L. spina a thorn, a prickle, in allusion to its pointed crystals.] (Min.) A mineral occuring in octahedrons of great hardness and various colors, as red, green, blue, brown, and black, the red variety being the gem spinel ruby. It consist essentially of alumina and magnesia, but commonly contains iron and sometimes also chromium.

The spinel group includes spinel proper, also magnetite, chromite, franklinite, gahnite, etc., all of which may be regarded as composed of a sesquioxide and a protoxide in equal proportions.

Spin"el (?), n. Bleached yarn in making the linen tape called inkle; unwrought inkle. Knight.

Spine"less (?), a. Having no spine.

Spi*nes"cent (?), a.[L. spinescens, -entis, p. pr. of spinescere to know to grow thorny, fr. spina a thorn: cf. F. spinescent.] (Bot.) Becoming hard and thorny; tapering gradually to a rigid, leafless point; armed with spines. Gray.

Spin"et (?), n. [OF. espinete, F. épinette (cf. It. spinetta), fr. L. spina a thorn; -- so called because its quills resemble thorns. See Spine.] (Mus.) A keyed instrument of music resembling a harpsichord, but smaller, with one string of brass or steel wire to each note, sounded by means of leather or quill plectrums or jacks. It was formerly much used.

Dumb spinet. (Mus.) See Manichordon.

Spi"net (?), n. [L. spinetum. See Spinny.] A spinny. [Obs.] B. Jonson.

Spine"tail` (?), n. (Zoöl.) (a) Any one or several species of swifts of the genus Acanthylis, or Chætura, and allied genera, in which the shafts of the tail feathers terminate in rigid spines. (b) Any one of several species of South American and Central American clamatorial birds belonging to Synallaxis and allied genera of the family Dendrocolaptidæ. They are allied to the ovenbirds. (c) The ruddy duck. [Local, U.S.]

Spine"-tailed (?), a. (Zoöl.) Having the tail quills ending in sharp, naked tips.

Spine-tailed swift. (Zoöl.) See Spinetail (a).

Spin"et*ed (?), a. Slit; cleft. [Obs. & R.]

Spi*nif"er*ous (?), a. [L. spinifer; spina thorn + ferre to produce.] Producing spines; bearing thorns or spines; thorny; spiny.

Spin"i*form (?), a. Shaped like a spine.

Spi*nig"er*ous (?), a. [L. spiniger; spina spine + gerere to bear.] Bearing a spine or spines; thorn-bearing.

Spin"i*ness (?), n. Quality of being spiny.

Spin`i-spir"u*late (?), a. (Zoöl.) Having spines arranged spirally. See Spicule.

Spink (spk), n. [Cf. dial. Sw. spink a kind of small bird, Gr. spi`ggos, and E. finch.] (Zoöl.) The chaffinch.

Spin"na*ker (?), n. (Naut.) A large triangular sail set upon a boom, -- used when running before the wind.

Spin"ner (?), n. 1. One who, or that which, spins one skilled in spinning; a spinning machine.

2. A spider. "Long-legged spinners." Shak.

3. (Zoöl.) A goatsucker; -- so called from the peculiar noise it makes when darting through the air.

4. (Zoöl.) A spinneret.

Ring spinner, a machine for spinning, in which the twist, given to the yarn by a revolving bobbin, is regulated by the drag of a small metal loop which slides around a ring encircling the bobbin, instead of by a throstle.

Spin"ner*et (?), n. (Zoöl.) One of the special jointed organs situated on the under side, and near the end, of the abdomen of spiders, by means of which they spin their webs. Most spiders have three pairs of spinnerets, but some have only two pairs. The ordinary silk line of the spider is composed of numerous smaller lines jointed after issuing from the spinnerets.

Spin"ner*ule (?), n. (Zoöl.) One of the numerous small spinning tubes on the spinnerets of spiders.

Spin"ney (?), n.; pl. Spinneys (&?;). Same as Spinny. T. Hughes.

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Spin"ning (?), a. & n. from Spin.

Spinning gland (Zoöl.), one of the glands which form the material for spinning the silk of silkworms and other larvæ. -- Spinning house, formerly a common name for a house of correction in England, the women confined therein being employed in spinning. -- Spinning jenny (Mach.), an engine or machine for spinning wool or cotton, by means of a large number of spindles revolving simultaneously. -- Spinning mite (Zoöl.), the red spider. -- Spinning wheel, a machine for spinning yarn or thread, in which a wheel drives a single spindle, and is itself driven by the hand, or by the foot acting on a treadle.

Spin"ny (?), n.; pl. Spinnies (#). [OF. espinaye,espinoye, espinei, espanoi, F. épinaie, from L. spinetum a thicket of thorns, fr. spina a thorn. See Spine.] A small thicket or grove with undergrowth; a clump of trees. [Written also spinney, and spinny.]

The downs rise steep, crowned with black fir spinnies.

C. Kingsley.

Spin"ny, a. [Cf. Spiny, a.] Thin and long; slim; slender. [Obs. or Prov. Eng.]

Spi*nose" (?), a.[L. spinosus, from spina a thorn.] Full of spines; armed with thorns; thorny.

Spi*nos"i*ty (?), n. The quality or state of being spiny or thorny; spininess.

Spi"nous (?), a. 1. Spinose; thorny.

2. Having the form of a spine or thorn; spinelike.

Spinous process of a vertebra (Anat.), the dorsal process of the neural arch of a vertebra; a neurapophysis.

Spi*no"zism (?), n. The form of Pantheism taught by Benedict Spinoza, that there is but one substance, or infinite essence, in the universe, of which the so- called material and spiritual beings and phenomena are only modes, and that one this one substance is God. [Written also Spinosism.]

Spi*no"zist (?), n. A believer in Spinozism.

Spin"ster (?), n. [Spin + - ster.] 1. A woman who spins, or whose occupation is to spin.

She spake to spinster to spin it out.

Piers Plowman.

The spinsters and the knitters in the sun.

Shak.

2. A man who spins. [Obs.] Shak.

3. (Law) An unmarried or single woman; -- used in legal proceedings as a title, or addition to the surname.

If a gentlewoman be termed a spinster, she may abate the writ.

Coke.

4. A woman of evil life and character; -- so called from being forced to spin in a house of correction. [Obs.]

Spin"stress (?), n. A woman who spins. T. Brown.

Spin"stry (?), n. The business of one who spins; spinning. [Obs.] Milton.

Spin"ule (?), n. [L. spinula, dim. of spina a spine: cf. F. spinule.] A minute spine. Dana.

Spin`u*les"cent (?), a. (Bot.) Having small spines; somewhat thorny.

{ Spin"u*lose` (?), Spin"u*lous (?) }, a. [Cf. F. spinuleux.] Covered with small spines.

Spin"y (?), a. [From Spine.] 1. Full of spines; thorny; as, a spiny tree.

2. Like a spine in shape; slender. "Spiny grasshoppers sit chirping." Chapman.

3. Fig.: Abounding with difficulties or annoyances.

The spiny deserts of scholastic philosophy.

Bp. Warburton.

Spiny lobster. (Zoöl.) Same as Rock lobster, under Rock. See also Lobster.

Spin"y, n. See Spinny.

||Spi*o"de*a (?), n. pl. [NL., fr. Spio the typical genus.] (Zoöl.) An ||extensive division of marine Annelida, including those that are ||without oral tentacles or cirri, and have the gills, when present, ||mostly arranged along the sides of the body. They generally live in ||burrows or tubes.

Spi"ra*ble (?), a. [L. spirabilis.] Capable of being breathed; respirable. [Obs.] Nash.

Spir"a*cle (?), n.[L. spiraculum, fr. spirare to breathe: cf. F. spiracule. See Spirit.] 1. (Anat.) The nostril, or one of the nostrils, of whales, porpoises, and allied animals.

2. (Zoöl.) (a) One of the external openings communicating with the air tubes or tracheæ of insects, myriapods, and arachnids. They are variable in number, and are usually situated on the sides of the thorax and abdomen, a pair to a segment. These openings are usually elliptical, and capable of being closed. See Illust. under Coleoptera. (a) A tubular orifice communicating with the gill cavity of certain ganoid and all elasmobranch fishes. It is the modified first gill cleft.

3. Any small aperture or vent for air or other fluid.

Spi*rac"u*lar (?), a. Of or pertaining to a spiracle.

Spi*ræ"a (?), n. [L., fr. Gr. &?;&?;&?;, fr. &?;&?;&?; a coil.] (Bot.) A genus of shrubs or perennial herbs including the meadowsweet and the hardhack.

Spi*ræ"ic (?), a. (Chem.) Of, pertaining to, or derived from, the meadowsweet (Spiræa); formerly, designating an acid which is now called salicylic acid.

Spi"ral (?), a. [Cf. F. spiral. See Spire a winding line.] 1. Winding or circling round a center or pole and gradually receding from it; as, the spiral curve of a watch spring.

2. Winding round a cylinder or imaginary axis, and at the same time rising or advancing forward; winding like the thread of a screw; helical.

3. (Geom.) Of or pertaining to a spiral; like a spiral.

Spiral gear, or Spiral wheel (Mach.), a gear resembling in general a spur gear, but having its teeth cut at an angle with its axis, or so that they form small portions of screws or spirals. -- Spiral gearing, a kind of gearing sometimes used in light machinery, in which spiral gears, instead of bevel gears, are used to transmit motion between shafts that are not parallel. -- Spiral operculum, an operculum whih has spiral lines of growth. -- Spiral shell, any shell in which the whorls form a spiral or helix. -- Spiral spring. See the Note under Spring, n., 4.

Spi"ral (?), n. [Cf. F. spirale. See Spiral, a.] 1. (Geom.) A plane curve, not reëntrant, described by a point, called the generatrix, moving along a straight line according to a mathematical law, while the line is revolving about a fixed point called the pole. Cf. Helix.

2. Anything which has a spiral form, as a spiral shell.

Equiangular spiral,a plane curve which cuts all its generatrices at the same angle. Same as Logarithmic spiral, under Logarithmic. -- Spiral of Archimedes, a spiral the law of which is that the generatrix moves uniformly along the revolving line, which also moves uniformly.

Spi*ral"i*ty (?), n. The quality or states of being spiral.

Spi"ral*ly (?), adv. In a spiral form, manner, or direction.

Spi*ra`lo*zo"oid (?), n. [Spiral + zooid. So called because they often have a spiral form when contracted.] (Zoöl.) One of the special defensive zooids of certain hydroids. They have the form of long, slender tentacles, and bear lasso cells.

Spi"rant (?), n. [L. spirans, -antis, p. pr. of spirare to breathe. See Spirit.] (Phon.) A term used differently by different authorities; -- by some as equivalent to fricative, - - that is, as including all the continuous consonants, except the nasals m, n, ng; with the further exception, by others, of the liquids r, l, and the semivowels w, y; by others limited to f, v, th surd and sonant, and the sound of German ch, -- thus excluding the sibilants, as well as the nasals, liquids, and semivowels. See Guide to Pronunciation, §§ 197-208.

Spi*ran"thy (?), n. [Gr. &?;&?;&?; a coil + &?;&?;&?; flower.] (Bot.) The occasional twisted growth of the parts of a flower.

Spi*ra"tion (?), n. [L. spiratio, fr. spirare to breathe.] The act of breathing. [Obs.] Barrow.

Spire (?), v. i. [L. spirare to breathe. See Spirit.] To breathe. [Obs.] Shenstone.

Spire, n. [OE. spire, spir, a blade of grass, a young shoot, AS. spr; akin to G. spier a blade of grass, Dan. spire a sprout, sprig, Sw. spira a spar, Icel. spra.] 1. A slender stalk or blade in vegetation; as, a spire grass or of wheat.

An oak cometh up a little spire.

Chaucer.

2. A tapering body that shoots up or out to a point in a conical or pyramidal form. Specifically (Arch.), the roof of a tower when of a pyramidal form and high in proportion to its width; also, the pyramidal or aspiring termination of a tower which can not be said to have a roof, such as that of Strasburg cathedral; the tapering part of a steeple, or the steeple itself. "With glistering spires and pinnacles adorned." Milton.

A spire of land that stand apart, Cleft from the main.

Tennyson.

Tall spire from which the sound of cheerful bells Just undulates upon the listening ear.

Cowper.

3. (Mining) A tube or fuse for communicating fire to the chargen in blasting.

4. The top, or uppermost point, of anything; the summit.

The spire and top of praises.

Shak.

Spire, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Spired (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Spiring.] To shoot forth, or up in, or as if in, a spire. Emerson.

It is not so apt to spire up as the other sorts, being more inclined to branch into arms.

Mortimer.

Spire, n. [L. spira coil, twist; akin to Gr. &?;&?;&?;: cf. F. spire.] 1. A spiral; a curl; a whorl; a twist. Dryden.

2. (Geom.) The part of a spiral generated in one revolution of the straight line about the pole. See Spiral, n.

Spire bearer. (Paleon.) Same as Spirifer.

Spired (?), a. Having a spire; being in the form of a spire; as, a spired steeple. Mason.

Spi"ri*cle (?), n. [Dim., fr. L. spira a coil.] (Bot.) One of certain minute coiled threads in the coating of some seeds. When moistened these threads protrude in great numbers. Gray.

Spi"ri*fer (?), n. [NL., fr. L. spira a coil + ferreto bear.] (Paleon.) Any one of numerous species of fossil brachipods of the genus Spirifer, or Delthyris, and allied genera, in which the long calcareous supports of the arms form a large spiral, or helix, on each side.

||Spi*ril"lum (?), n. [NL., dim. of L. spira a coil.] (Biol.) A genus ||of common motile microörganisms (Spirobacteria) having the form of ||spiral- shaped filaments. One species is said to be the cause of ||relapsing fever.

Spir"ing (?), a. Shooting up in a spire or spires. "The spiring grass." Dryton.

Spir"it (?), n. [OF. espirit, esperit, F. esprit, L. spiritus, from spirare to breathe, to blow. Cf. Conspire, Expire, Esprit, Sprite.] 1. Air set in motion by breathing; breath; hence, sometimes, life itself. [Obs.] "All of spirit would deprive." Spenser.

The mild air, with season moderate, Gently attempered, and disposed eo well, That still it breathed foorth sweet spirit.

Spenser.

2. A rough breathing; an aspirate, as the letter h; also, a mark to denote aspiration; a breathing. [Obs.]

Be it a letter or spirit, we have great use for it.

B. Jonson.

3. Life, or living substance, considered independently of corporeal existence; an intelligence conceived of apart from any physical organization or embodiment; vital essence, force, or energy, as distinct from matter.

4. The intelligent, immaterial and immortal part of man; the soul, in distinction from the body in which it resides; the agent or subject of vital and spiritual functions, whether spiritual or material.

There is a spirit in man; and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding.

Job xxxii. 8.

As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

James ii. 26.

Spirit is a substance wherein thinking, knowing, doubting, and a power of moving, do subsist.

Locke.

5. Specifically, a disembodied soul; the human soul after it has left the body.

Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was, and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

Eccl. xii. 7.

Ye gentle spirits far away, With whom we shared the cup of grace.

Keble.

6. Any supernatural being, good or bad; an apparition; a specter; a ghost; also, sometimes, a sprite,; a fairy; an elf.

Whilst young, preserve his tender mind from all impressions of spirits and goblins in the dark.

Locke.

7. Energy, vivacity, ardor, enthusiasm, courage, etc.

"Write it then, quickly," replied Bede; and summoning all his spirits together, like the last blaze of a candle going out, he indited it, and expired.

Fuller.

8. One who is vivacious or lively; one who evinces great activity or peculiar characteristics of mind or temper; as, a ruling spirit; a schismatic spirit.

Such spirits as he desired to please, such would I choose for my judges.

Dryden.