spindle

== English == === Alternative forms === spindel (obsolete) spinnel (dialectal) === Etymology === From Middle English spyndel, spindle, spyndylle, from Old English spindle, spindel, alteration of earlier spinel, spinil, spinl (“spindle”), from Proto-West Germanic *spinnilu (“spindle”), equivalent to spin +‎ -le. Cognate with Scots spindil, spinnell (“spindle”), Dutch spindel ("spindle"; < Middle Dutch spille, spinle), German Spindel (“spindle”), Danish spindel (“spindle”), Swedish spindel (“spindle”). The dragonfly sense (noun sense 14) is a calque of Swedish slända (dragonfly/spindle); this word was introduced by New Sweden settlers. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ˈspɪndəl/ Hyphenation: spin‧dle Rhymes: -ɪndəl === Noun === spindle (plural spindles) (spinning) A rod used for spinning and then winding 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. Coordinate terms: axle, shaft A rotary axis of a machine tool or power tool. (cycling) The axle of a bottom bracket. 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. Coordinate terms: bill hook, billhook The fusee of a watch. Any long and slender stalk resembling a spindle from Euonymus. 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. (computing) A plastic container for packaging optical discs such as CDs or DVDs, having a central column that passes through the central holes in the discs and keeps them in a stack. A muscle spindle. A sleep spindle. ==== Synonyms ==== (a tree from the Euonymus genus): spindle tree ==== Hypernyms ==== (a tree from the Euonymus genus): euonymus ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Translations ==== ==== See also ==== === 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. ==== Translations ==== === Further reading === Spindle on Wikipedia.Wikipedia Spindle (textiles) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin Eli Smith, editors (1895–1910), “spindle”, in The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia: […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC. === Anagrams === spindel, splined == Middle English == === Noun === spindle alternative form of spyndel