spindle

Meaning

Noun

1. 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.
2. A rod which turns, or on which something turns.
3. A rotary axis of a machine tool or power tool.
4. Certain of the species of the genus Euonymus, originally used for making the spindles used for spinning wool.
5. An upright spike for holding paper documents by skewering.
6. The fusee of a watch.
7. Any long and slender stalk resembling a spindle from Euonymus.
8. A yarn measure containing, in cotton yarn, 15,120 yards; in linen yarn, 14,400 yards.
9. A solid generated by the revolution of a curved line about its base or double ordinate or chord.
10. Any marine univalve shell of the genus Tibia; a spindle stromb.
11. Any marine gastropod with a spindle-shaped shell formerly in one of the three invalid genera called Fusus.
12. A cytoskeletal structure formed during mitosis.
13. A dragonfly.
14. 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.
15. A muscle spindle.
16. A sleep spindle.

Verb

1. (transitive) To make into a long tapered shape.
2. (intransitive) To take on a long tapered shape.
3. (transitive) To impale on a device for holding paper documents.

Synonyms

spindle tree

arbor

bobbin

reel

spool

distaff

axle

axis

pivot

spike

mandrel

mandril

shaft

shank

tablet

rod

slab

stick

cake

🍰

shuttle

spinning top

spiral

tenon

top

🔝

trump up

twirl

walking stick

whorl

spindle whorl

rotating shaft

rotor shaft

revolution axis

fusiform body

nuclear spindle

shaft axle

axes

cane

carom

crutch

🩼

cylinder

dowel

fabricate

fly

✈️

hub

journal

knead

peg-top

pinch

pod

roll

Translations

fuseau

Spindel

huso

fuso

fuso

αδράχτι

axe

fus

spil

spoel

as

eje

quenouille

dingil

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈspɪndəl/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: spyndel

Inherited from Old English: spindle

Cognate with Scots: spindil

Cognate with Dutch: spindel

Cognate with German: Spindel

Cognate with Danish: spindel

Cognate with Swedish: spindel

In summary

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 (sense 13) is a calque of Swedish slända (dragonfly/spindle); this word was introduced by New Sweden settlers.