spindle

Noun
Synonyms: mandrelmandrilarborspike

WordNet 3.0

Noun (5)

  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. a piece of wood that has been turned on a lathe; used as a baluster, chair leg, etc.
  3. any of various rotating shafts that serve as axes for larger rotating partsSynonyms: mandrelmandrilarbor
  4. a stick or pin used to twist the yarn in spinning
  5. any holding device consisting of a rigid, sharp-pointed object“the spike pierced the receipts and held them in order”Synonyms: spike
Advertisement

Webster's Dictionary (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. [1913 Webster]

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]

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]

Advertisement