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Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

spinner en · NOUN

Pronunciation

  • /ˈspɪnɚ/ (General-American)
  • (Australia) audio

Etymology

From Middle English spynnere; equivalent to spin + -er.

Meanings

  1. Someone who or something that spins.
  2. Someone who or something that spins. ▸ Someone who spins yarn from loose fiber.
  3. A conical fairing near the hub of some aircraft propellers or turbofan fans.
  4. A device that is spun in games to choose a number or symbol.
    • I got a four on the spinner and moved my counter forward four spaces on the board.
  5. (Australia, New-Zealand) The coin thrower in a game of two-up.
  6. (Australia, qualifier:prison, slang) A mentally disturbed or eccentric person; weirdo.
  7. (often, slang, vulgar) Primarily in the adult film industry, a woman with a tiny frame, usually very thin and small-breasted.
    • For example, some johns used the term spinner to refer a petite female. This was exemplified by an exchange in the Dayton forum where individuals discussed the meaning of the term spinner: Purplehead: I picked up what looked to be a young thin WSW just south of McDs … She looked really good, about 100 lbs, and very cute, dark hair … a definite spinner.. 2009, K.R. Blevins, T.J. Holt, “Examining the virtual subculture of johns”, in Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, volume 38, number 5, Sage Publications:
    • Now, Cher was a spinner. Spinner is slang for a petite “chez chez la femme” who loved to assume the dominate sexual position on top. In other words, one could take a spinner and turn her around rapidly thus creating a circular motion and a geometrically induced orgasm. 2007, Hank Miller, The Admiral's Son, Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 293:
    • He hadn't dated any Asian girls at Princeton, even though there were tons of them. They tended to be petite, and he wasn't into little girls, "spinners," as Andy called them. 2012, Amy Sohn, Motherland, New York: Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 112:
    • […] petite women, whom he called 'spinners,' because, in comparison to 'heifers,' they are far more manageable.” 2016, LR Penn, The Syzygy, Lulu.com, →ISBN, pages 204–205:
    • The girl peeking up at him under strawberry[-]blond curls was what men commonly referred to as a “spinner.” Petite, passionate, and pliable...one you could switch into a different sexual position without removing yourself from her heat. […] "I'm going to fuck my little spinner now. She's had it too easy so far." 2014, Tessa Bailey, Staking His Claim, Fort Collins, CO: Entangled Publishing, →ISBN:
  8. An input control for entering a number, with accompanying arrowed buttons that increase or decrease the value.
    • Select the number of copies you would like to print using the Number of copies spinner. 1997, Lynn Marie Bacon, Getting started with Microsoft PowerPoint 7.0 for Windows 95, page 51:
  9. A spin bowler.
    • I can ascertain that even in the present era where T20 cricket has redefined spin bowling and spinners have started bowling doosras and teesras and fire the deliveries in, you can expect Bishan Singh Bedi to stick to his original definition, and insist that, 'A spinner is one who turns the ball...' 2021, Neha Bedi, Sachin Bajaj, The Sardar of Spin:
  10. A manoeuvre in which the surfer makes a complete 360° turn while riding a surfboard.
    • Robert had never done a spinner in his life. 1966, Bruce Brown, director, The Endless Summer:
    • Moves such as spinners, el rollos and a manoeuvre known as the ARS (air reverse spin) were all carried out. 1999 February 18, The Times, Victor Harbour, SA, page 32, column 5:
  11. A type of lure consisting of wire, a rotating blade, a weighted body, and one or more hooks.
  12. An ornamental hubcap that spins independently of the wheel
  13. A Eurasian nightjar (Caprimulgus europaeus).
  14. A dolphin (Stenella longirostris).
  15. A spinneret.
  16. (archaic) A spider.
    • I soon found it necessary not only to brush away the web, but also to destroy the spinner; for at first, having cleared the path one day, I found the next morning that the industrious insects had spread their nets again in the very same places. 1869, Alfred Russel Wallace, The Malay Archipelago, volume II, London: Macmillan and Co., page 205:
    • Should she kill this magnetic spider, and so end its baleful influence? Incentively the trees hissed 'Yes, yes.' Motioning for them to be silent, she steadily watched the insidious spinner, now as if divining her purpose, merely an indrawn inert black speck but acutely watching her. 1907, Barbara Baynton, edited by Sally Krimmer and Alan Lawson, Human Toll (Portable Australian Authors: Barbara Baynton), St Lucia: University of Queensland Press, published 1980, page 289:
  17. (Jamaica) A kind of dumpling, shaped by "spinning" it in the hands.
  18. (slang) A spin doctor.
    • He's been telling his army of spinners, and DC and Boy George too, that Radio 4 is for the chattering classes, and only people like Cameron and Miliband tune in to watch Paxo on Newsnight last thing at night. 2011, Larry the Cat, The Larry Diaries: Downing Street - The First 100 Days, page 15:
  19. (abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis) Ellipsis of fidget spinner.
  20. (qualifier:pinball) A flat target mounted on an axis so that a ball passing through can make it spin around, usually awarding a certain number of points for every revolution it completes.
  21. (slang) A record turntable or CD player.
  22. (slang) A disc jockey.
  23. (slang) A hard disk drive.
    • Absolutely do not use a spinner for running games (archiving, yes). 2022 November 1, [deleted user], “Which external drive should I choose for storing games?”, in r/DataHoarder:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
spinners Number=Plur lexicographic

Deriveds

salad spinner · yarnspinner · spinnerette · spinner wheel · webspinner · electrospinner · wrist spinner · potato spinner · leg spinner · top-spinner · hand spinner · ring spinner · fidget spinner · gin spinner · sign spinner · spinner knob · leg-spinner · off spinner · orthodox spinner · finger spinner · wheel spinner · steering wheel spinner knob · spinnerule · money-spinner · spinneret · spinnerbait · handspinner · yarn-spinner · cytospinner · steering wheel spinner · cotton-spinner

Synonyms

spinnerbait · spinner dolphin · handspinner

Translations (19)

de Spinnerin (someone or something who spins) · it filatore (someone or something who spins) · tr ip eğirici (someone or something who spins) · it filatrice (someone or something who spins) · mi pāua (fishing: type of lure) · bg предач (someone or something who spins) · it girandola (someone or something who spins) · fi pyörittäjä (someone or something who spins) · es girandola (someone or something who spins) · it trottola (someone or something who spins) · pl prządka (someone or something who spins) · it cucchiaino (fishing: type of lure) · de Spinner (computing: input control for entering a number with accompanying arrowed buttons) · de Spinner (someone or something who spins) · mr फिरकी गोलंदाज (cricket: spin bowler) · fi numerovalitsin (computing: input control for entering a number with accompanying arrowed buttons) · tr zoka (fishing: type of lure) · ga abhraiseach (someone or something who spins) · fr casserole (conical cover at the center of some aircraft propellers)