Spindle

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Spindle \Spin"dle\, n. [AS. spinal, fr. spinnan to spin; akin to
     D. spil, G. spille, spindel, OHG. spinnala. [root]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.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. A slender rod or pin on which anything turns; an axis; as,
        the spindle of a vane. Specifically: 
        [1913 Webster]
        (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.
            [1913 Webster]
        (b) (Mach.) The vertical rod on which the runner of a
            grinding mill turns.
            [1913 Webster]
        (c) (Founding) A shaft or pipe on which a core of sand is
            formed.
            [1913 Webster]
  
     3. The fusee of a watch.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     4. A long and slender stalk resembling a spindle.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     5. A yarn measure containing, in cotton yarn, 15,120 yards;
        in linen yarn, 14,400 yards.
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     6. (Geom.) A solid generated by the revolution of a curved
        line about its base or double ordinate or chord.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     7. (Zool.)
        (a) Any marine univalve shell of the genus {Rostellaria};
            -- called also {spindle stromb}.
        (b) Any marine gastropod of the genus {Fusus}.
            [1913 Webster]
  
     {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}. (Zool.) 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 {Eunymus Europaeus} was used for
        spindles and skewers. See {Prickwood}.
        [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Spindle \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.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           It has begun to spindle into overintellectuality.
                                                    --Lowell.
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  spindle
       n 1: (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"
       2: any of various rotating shafts that serve as axes for larger
          rotating parts [syn: {mandrel}, {mandril}, {arbor}]
       3: a stick or pin used to twist the yarn in spinning

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  25 Moby Thesaurus words for "spindle":
     arbor, axis, axle, axle bar, axle shaft, axle spindle, axle-tree,
     distaff, fulcrum, gimbal, gudgeon, hinge, hingle, hub, mandrel,
     nave, oarlock, pin, pintle, pivot, pole, radiant, rowlock, swivel,
     trunnion