spindle

UK: /ˈspɪnd^əl/ US: /ˈspɪndəl/ ,(spin′dl)

Inflections of 'spindle' (v): (⇒ conjugate)

spindles

v 3rd person singular

spindling

v pres p

spindled

v past

spindled

v past p

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

spin•dle /ˈspɪndəl/   n. [countable]

1. Textiles a rounded rod, pointed at each end, used in hand-spinning.
2. any shaft or pin that turns around or on which something turns, as an axle.
3. Cell Biology a spindle-shaped structure, as in a living cell.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

spin•dle  (spin′dl), n., adj., v., -dled, -dling. 
n. 

1. Textiles a rounded rod, usually of wood, tapering toward each end, used in hand-spinning to twist into thread the fibers drawn from the mass on the distaff, and on which the thread is wound as it is spun.
2. Textiles the rod on a spinning wheel by which the thread is twisted and on which it is wound.
3. Textiles one of the rods of a spinning machine that bear the bobbins on which the spun thread is wound.
4. any rod or pin suggestive of a spindle used in spinning, as one that turns around or on which something turns;
   an axle, axis, or shaft.
5. Sound Reproduction a vertical shaft that serves to center a phonograph record on a turntable.
6. Building, Metallurgy, Mechanical Engineering either of two shafts or arbors that support the work on a lathe, one (live spindle) on the headstock, rotating with and imparting motion to the work, the other (dead spindle) on the tailstock, motionless.
7. Building, Mechanical Engineering a small axis, arbor, or mandrel.
8. Nautical, Naval Terms an iron rod or the like, usually with a ball or cage at the top, fixed to a rock, sunken reef, etc., to serve as a guide in navigation.
9. Textiles a measure of yarn, containing, for cotton, 15,120 yards (13,825 m), and for linen, 14,400 yards (13,267 m).
10. Hydraulics a hydrometer.
11. Cell Biology a spindle-shaped structure, composed of microtubules, that forms near the cell nucleus during mitosis or meiosis and, as it divides, draws the chromosomes to opposite poles of the cell.
12. a short, turned or circular ornament, as in a baluster or stair rail.
13. Communications See spindle file. 
14. Dialect Terms [Eastern New Eng.] a tassel on an ear of corn.
15. Dialect Terms [Chiefly New Jersey and Delaware Valley.] dragonfly.

adj. 

16. See spindle side. 

v.t. 

17. to give the form of a spindle to.
18. to provide or equip with a spindle or spindles.
19. to impale (a card or paper) on a spindle, as for sorting purposes.

v.i. 

20. Botany to shoot up, or grow, into a long, slender stalk or stem, as a plant.
21. Botany to grow tall and slender, often disproportionately so.

• bef. 900; Middle English spindel (noun, nominal), Old English spin(e)l; see spin, -le; cognate with German Spindel

spin′dle•like′, adj. 
Regional Variation

15. See dragonfly. 

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

spindle / ˈspɪnd^əl/ noun

1. a rod or stick that has a notch in the top, used to draw out natural fibres for spinning into thread, and a long narrow body around which the thread is wound when spun
2. one of the thin rods or pins bearing bobbins upon which spun thread is wound in a spinning wheel or machine
3. any of various parts in the form of a rod, esp a rotating rod that acts as an axle, mandrel, or arbor
4. a piece of wood that has been turned, such as a baluster or table leg
5. a small square metal shaft that passes through the lock of a door and to which the door knobs or handles are fixed
6. a spindle-shaped structure formed by microtubules during mitosis or meiosis which draws the duplicated chromosomes apart as the cell divides
7. a less common name for a hydrometer
8. a device consisting of a sharp upright spike on a pedestal on which bills, order forms, etc, are impaled
9. short for spindle tree

verb

1. (transitive) to form into a spindle or equip with spindles
2. (intransitive) (of a plant, stem, shoot, etc) to grow rapidly and become elongated and thin

Etymology: Old English spinel; related to spinnan to spin, Old Saxon spinnila spindle, Old High German spinnala