spinner

American  

[spin-er] / ˈspɪn ər /

noun

1. a person or thing that spins.

2. Angling. a lure, as a spoon bait, that revolves in the water in trolling and casting.

3. Also called spinner play.  Football. a play in which the player carrying the ball twirls about, to deceive the other team as to where the player intends to hit the line.

4. Aeronautics. a streamlined fairing over a propeller hub.

5. British Informal. nightjar.

6. Slang. a disc jockey.

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spinner British  

/ ˈspɪnə /

noun

1. a person or thing that spins

2. informal a spin doctor

3. cricket

   1. a ball that is bowled with a spinning motion

   2. a bowler who specializes in bowling such balls

4. a streamlined fairing that fits over and revolves with the hub of an aircraft propeller

5. a fishing lure with a fin or wing that revolves when drawn through the water

6. an angler's name for the mature adult form (imago) of various flies, especially the mayflies Compare dun 2

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Other Word Forms

• underspinner noun

Etymology

Origin of spinner

First recorded in 1175–1225, spinner is from the Middle English word spinnere. See spin, -er ¹

Example Sentences

Harmer outdid the Indian spinners in their own den with his guile and turn.

From Barron's

Herodotus was an anthropological Autolycus, a spinner of yarns from Halicarnassus, a Greek colony in Asia Minor.

From The Wall Street Journal

Since 2021, federal law prohibits swimming within 50 yards of spinner dolphins near the state’s shorelines.

From Washington Times

All-rounder Heather Graham, spinner Amanda-Jade Wellington and fast bowler Maitlan Brown, who earned her first deal in The Hundred in Thursday's draft, are also part of the squad.

From BBC

Human children indulge in spinner bowls at playgrounds and in merry-go-rounds, carousels and carnival rides that spin them through the air.

From Scientific American

Related Words

• gyroscope