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SPINDLE
spike, spindle
(noun) any holding device consisting of a rigid, sharp-pointed object; “the spike pierced the receipts and held them in order”
spindle
(noun) a stick or pin used to twist the yarn in spinning
spindle, mandrel, mandril, arbor
(noun) any of various rotating shafts that serve as axes for larger rotating parts
spindle
(noun) a piece of wood that has been turned on a lathe; used as a baluster, chair leg, etc.
spindle
(noun) (biology) tiny fibers that are seen in cell division; the fibers radiate from two poles and meet at the equator in the middle; “chromosomes are distributed by spindles in mitosis and meiosis”
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Noun
spindle (plural spindles)
(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.
A rod which turns, or on which something turns.
A rotary axis of a machine tool or power tool.
Certain of the species of the genus Euonymus, originally used for making the spindles used for spinning wool.
An upright spike for holding paper documents by skewering.
The fusee of a watch.
A long and slender stalk resembling a spindle.
A yarn measure containing, in cotton yarn, 15,120 yards; in linen yarn, 14,400 yards.
(geometry) A solid generated by the revolution of a curved line about its base or double ordinate or chord.
Any marine univalve shell of the genus Tibia; a spindle stromb.
Any marine gastropod with a spindle-shaped shell formerly in one of the three invalid genera called Fusus.
(biology) A cytoskeletal structure formed during mitosis
(coastal New Jersey) a dragonfly, calque of Swedish slända (dragonfly/spindle), introduced by New Sweden settlers.
Synonyms
• (a tree from the Euonymus genus): spindle tree
Hypernyms
• (a tree from the Euonymus genus): euonymus
Verb
spindle (third-person singular simple present spindles, present participle spindling, simple past and past participle spindled)
(transitive) To make into a long tapered shape.
(intransitive) To take on a long tapered shape.
(transitive) To impale on a device for holding paper documents.
Anagrams
• spindel, splined
Source: Wiktionary
Spin"dle, n. Etym: [AS. spinal, fr. spinnan to spin; akin to D. spil, G. spille, spindel, OHG. spinnala. sq. root170. 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.)
Definition: 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.)
Definition: 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.]
Definition: 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.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
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(adjective) invulnerable to fear or intimidation; “audacious explorers”; “fearless reporters and photographers”; “intrepid pioneers”
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