spindlen.
/ˈspɪnd(ə)l/ I. Senses relating to the activity of spinning, and related uses.
1.
a. A simple instrument employed in spinning by hand, consisting of a slender rounded rod (usually of wood), tapering towards each end, which is made to revolve and twist into thread the fibres drawn out from a bunch of wool, flax, or other material.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture of thread or yarn > [noun] > spinning > spindle
spindlec725
broachc1440
fusoec1710
c725 Corpus Gloss. (Hessels) F 378 Fusum, spinel.
c725 Corpus Gloss. (Hessels) N 108 Nitorium, spinil.
a1100 Gerefa in Anglia (1886) 9 263 He sceal fela towtola, flexlinan, spinle, reol, gearnwindan, stodlan..habban.
c1150 in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 547 Fusus, spindle.
c1325 Gloss. W. de Bibbesw. in Wright Voc. 157 Le fusil, spindel.
c1350 Geburt Jesu in Horstm. Altengl. Leg. (1875) 105 Bot mid spindle and mid nelde, his moder him bi wan.
1410 in W. H. Stevenson Rec. Borough Nottingham (1883) II. 70 j spyndel, pretii ijd.
1470–85 T. Malory Morte d'Arthur xvii. vi. 698 Carue me oute of this tree as moche woode as wylle make me a spyndyl.
a1529 J. Skelton Tunnyng of Elynour Rummyng in Certayne Bks. (?1545) 299 They layde to pledge theyr wharrowe, Theyr rybskyn and theyr spyndell.
1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry i. f. 11v The smaller sort [of necessaries] be these,..Distaues, Spindelles, Wharles.
?1615 G. Chapman tr. Homer Odysses (new ed.) x. 151 As she some web wrought; or her spindles twine She cherisht with her song.
1631 tr. J. A. Comenius Porta Linguarum Reserata xlv. §505 [They] draw their threads, whether it be with a reele, or with a spindle, and a whearne.
1720 A. Pope tr. Homer Iliad VI. xxiii. 890 As closely following as the running Thread The Spindle follows.
1758 S. Johnson Idler 13 May 41 The prejudices and pride of man have long presumed the sword and spindle made for different hands.
1816 W. Scott Antiquary II. x. 277 The younger children..watched the progress of Grannie's spindle.
1864 G. O. Trevelyan Competition Wallah xii. 429 Along the whole course of the Ganges the women flung their spindles into the river.
b. In a spinning frame, one of many steel rods, by each of which a thread is twisted and wound on a bobbin.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture of thread or yarn > [noun] > spinning > machine > parts of > spindle
spindle1791
skewer1835
1791 Encycl. Brit. (Dublin ed.) V. 488/2 Large buildings.., many of which contain several thousands of spindles.
1831 G. R. Porter Treat. Silk Manuf. 201 Upon each spindle, just above the bobbin, a piece of hard wood is so fixed by a pin as to cause the wood to revolve with the spindle.
1837 J. R. McCulloch Statist. Acct. Brit. Empire II. iii. iv. 66 At first the mule carried only 144 spindles; but by successive improvements it was rendered capable..of working 300 or 400 spindles.
1845 B. Disraeli Sybil II. iii. viii. 119 After a day of labour passed..amid the ceaseless and monotonous clang of the spindle and the loom.
c. A spool or bobbin.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture of thread or yarn > [noun] > winding > winding on spool or bobbin > spool or bobbin
spoolc1325
pirn1440
rocket1440
quillc1450
bobbin1530
reed1530
spill1594
twill1664
ratchet1728
pirnie1776
runner1784
reel1785
spindle1837
1837 L. Hebert Engin. & Mech. Encycl. I. 320 The workman having placed his spindles of thread near him, begins to work on the first horizontal line of one of the squares.
1837 N. Whittock et al. Compl. Bk. Trades (1842) 113 [article Carpet-weaver] Before the Weaver commences he prepares a number of small ‘spindles’ which hold the woollen yarn of the different colours required in the carpet.
2.
a. figurative. In allusions to the Fates imagined as spinning the thread of life or destiny, or in similar contexts.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > necessity > fate or destiny as determining events > [noun] > the (three) Fates > equipment used by
spindle1577
shear1600
1577 J. Grange Golden Aphroditis sig. Fij What tyme soeuer the turnyng spindle had thorowly twyned his fatall threede.
1608 T. Dekker Lanthorne & Candle-light sig. K4v Shall I shew you what other bottomes of mischiefe, Plutos Beadle saw wound vpon the black spindels of the Night..?
1645 J. Milton Arcades in Poems 54 To those that..turn the Adamantine spindle round, On which the fate of gods and men is wound.
1850 R. W. Emerson Plato in Representative Men ii. 61 He beholds..the Fates, with the rock and shears; and hears the intoxicating hum of their spindle.
b. As a type of something slender.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > condition of being long in relation to breadth > slenderness > [noun] > that which is slender
spindlea1625
slimline1949
a1625 J. Fletcher Women Pleas'd iv. iii, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Eeeeee4/1 I am falne away to nothing, to a spindle.
c. elliptical. = spindle-side n. rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > lineage or descent > [noun] > a line of descent > side > female line or side
mother-descent1642
distaff1644
spindle-side1851
spindle1877
distaff side1890
matrilineage1949
matriline1957
1877 R. D. Blackmore Erema li The barony,..upon default of male heirs, devolved upon the spindle.
3. Such an amount of thread or yarn as can be prepared on a spindle at one time; hence, a certain quantity or measure of yarn, varying according to the material.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > thread or yarn > [noun] > spindleful
spindle1452
whirl1560
spindleful1611
1452 Cov. Leet Bk. II. 271 The seid shirrifs to sesse & take the spyndels to ther owne behofe, & to paye þe spynner for hir labour.
1610 D. Wedderburn Compt Bk. (S.H.S.) 79 19 spynellis of yarn lyning, Ilk spynell cost me 28s.
1717 Forfeited Estates Papers (S.H.S.) Introd. p. xxvi Yarn, 20 Spindles, 1 Hasp, and 3 Heer, at 2s. per Spindle.
1766 W. Gordon Gen. Counting-house 197 3 bales linen yarn containing 1500 spindles.
1794 J. Sinclair Statist. Acct. Scotl. XI. 114 It is..an easy task, for one of these two-handed females, to spin 3 spindles in the week.
1858 P. L. Simmonds Dict. Trade Products 355/1 In cotton-yarn a spindle of 18 hanks is 15,120 yards; in linen yarn a spindle of 24 heers, is 14,400 yards.
1878 A. Barlow Hist. & Princ. Weaving 330 4 Hasps = 1 spyndle = 60,000 yards.
4.
a. A figure having the form of an elongated lozenge; esp. as a charge in Heraldry, = fusil n.1
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > indication > insignia > heraldic devices collective > charge: device on shield > [noun] > less honourable charge > diamond-shaped charge > elongated
fusil1486
spindle1486
fusee1589
slipper1610
1486 Bk. St. Albans, Her. F ij b Off armys fusyllit in english spyndyllis now I will speke.
1589 G. Puttenham Arte Eng. Poesie ii. xi. 76 The Fuzie or spindle, called Romboides.
1765 M. A. Porny Elem. Heraldry (1777) iv. 123 The Fusil, called also a Spindle, is longer than the Lozenge.
1886 J. A. Symonds Ben Jonson 2 In which shape they assume the semblance of the heraldic fusil, spindle, or rhombus.
b. Medicine. A dilatation of the fœtal aorta resembling a spindle in shape.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > biology > biological processes > procreation or reproduction > embryo or fetus > embryo parts > [noun] > others
gubernaculum1762
Wolffian ridge1874
gill pouch1882
pneogaster1890
telopore1890
spindle1898
hand plate1901
ear bud1905
dermatome1910
1898 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. V. 707 This constriction or isthmus is succeeded by a fusiform dilatation, the aortic spindle of His.
c. Cytology. A bipolar configuration of fibres to which the chromosomes become attached by their centromeres at metaphase of mitosis before being pulled towards its poles; cf. spindle fibre n. at Compounds 4.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > biology > biological processes > genetic activity > genetic components > [noun] > chromosome > spindle or spindle fibre
spindle1878
spindle fibre1878
mitosome1895
mantle fibre1896
monaster1901
cleavage-spindle1912
telomere1940
1878 Q. Jrnl. Microsc. Sci. 18 114 The portion of the spindle which remains in the egg after the formation of the second polar cell reconstitutes itself into a nucleus.
1896 E. B. Wilson Cell 49 The amphiaster..consists of a fibrous spindle-shaped body, the spindle, at either pole of which is a star or aster formed of rays or astral fibres radiating into the surrounding cytoplasm.
1920 L. Doncaster Introd. Cytol. 29 The ‘mitotic spindle’ or mechanism by which the chromosomes after division are separated into the daughter nuclei.
1920 L. Doncaster Introd. Cytol. 42 The achromatic spindle with the centrosomes at its poles.
1927 J. B. S. Haldane & J. S. Huxley Animal Biol. ii. 58 A star-shaped figure of radiating fibres is seen in the cell. This divides into two, forming a spindle-shaped set of fibres with a radiating ‘star’ at each end, and the chromosomes arrange themselves where the fibres from the two stars meet, in the centre of the spindle.
1971 Sci. Amer. Oct. 77/3 The action of the mitotic spindle in pulling the chromosomes apart when a cell divides.
d. Anatomy. [translating German spindel (W. Kühne 1863, in Arch. f. path. Anat. u. Physiol. XXVII. 520).] = muscle spindle n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > structural parts > muscle > parts of muscle > [noun]
wella1400
fontanelle?a1425
head?a1425
belly1591
venter1615
tail1719
myotome1857
sclerotome1857
myomere1868
muscle spindle1894
spindle1894
Z line1916
Z band1950
dyad1957
triad1957
1894 Jrnl. Physiol. 17 238 The spindles have been studied by Golgi (1880); Golgi's definition of them is ‘bundles of incompletely developed muscle-fibres, surrounded by a special sheath, and to be found in muscles at every period of growth’.
1899 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. VI. 711 Disease of sensory muscle nerves and their end organs, the ‘muscle spindles’.
1930 A. A. Maximow & W. Bloom Text-bk. Histol. xiv. 276 The muscle fibers of the spindle are approximately half as thick as the ordinary muscle fibers.
1962 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) B. 245 82 All spindles contain two distinct types of intrafusal muscle fibre, ‘nuclear bag fibres’ and ‘nuclear chain fibres’, which differ in structure and innervation.
1974 [see spindle fibre n. at Compounds 4]. e. Anatomy. Any of numerous small sensory organs within tendons and aponeuroses which consist of a spindle-shaped bundle of tendon fibres containing the branching endings of a nerve and enclosed in a capsule; a neurotendinous spindle; = tendon organ n., tendon spindle n. at tendon n. Compounds 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > nervous system > substance of nervous system > [noun] > sensory corpuscles, etc.
axile bodies1859
neuroepithelium1878
spindle1896
1896 E. L. Billstein tr. P. Stöhr Text-bk. Histol. ii. 115 The medullated nerves of tendons terminate in part in a close plexus of gray nerve-fibers, and in part in tendon~spindles.
1901 Gray's Anat. (ed. 15) 52 (heading) Organ of Golgi (neuro-tendinous spindle) from the human tendo Achillis.
1905 J. S. Ferguson Normal Histol. ix. 138 Nerve fibres enter the spindle and give off several medullated branches which run between the tendon bundles near the axis of the spindle.
1954 T. L. Peele Neuroanat. Basis Clin. Neurol. xix. 420/1 Neurotendinous spindles are usually present near the musculotendinous junction.
1966 C. R. Leeson & T. S. Leeson Histol. xx. 440/2 Neuromuscular spindles lie in muscle... Neurotendinous spindles are similar and are located in tendons and aponeuroses near their junctions with muscle.
f. Medicine. A configuration seen in an electroencephalogram (see quot. 1935).
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > diagnosis or prognosis > specific measuring or recording > [noun] > specific record > configurations in electrocardiogram
spindle1935
polyspike1950
spindling1963
flatline1976
1935 A. L. Loomis et al. in Science 14 June 597/2 The amplitude [of the waves] builds regularly to a maximum and then falls regularly so that we have designated these ‘spindles’, because of their appearance in the record.
1952 Confinia Neurologica XII. 73 Spindles are most prominent in the thalamus of cats under barbiturates.
1965 Math. in Biol. & Med. (Med. Res. Council) iv. 171 Often exact identification of the maxima and minima of the spindles can be difficult.
1983 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 12 Nov. 1401/1 A slowing of the alpha, concurrent alpha and theta, and beta spindles are found during relaxation and on the borders of sleep.
5. elliptical.
a. = spindle-tree n.With quot. 1712 cf. spindlekin n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > cultivated or ornamental trees and shrubs > [noun] > spindle-tree(s)
prickwood1516
spindle-tree1548
prick-timber1578
prickle tree1607
prick tree1671
spindle1712
spindlekin1714
euonymus1767
skewer wood1782
gaiter1796
dogwood1838
spindle-trees1846
louse-berry1866
skewer tree1894
1712 Philos. Trans. 1710–12 (Royal Soc.) 27 421 Cape Spindle with a shining notch'd Leaf.
1891 Daily News 11 Nov. 5/2 The spindle is not a striking shrub, and its sober flowers are small and inconspicuous.
b. = Spindle-shell, -stromb (see Compounds 4).
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > class Gastropoda > [noun] > superorder Branchifera > order Prosobranchiata > section Siphonostomata > family Strombidae > fugus brevis (spindle-shell)
spindle-shell1711
spindle1842
spindle-stromb1861
1842 Penny Cycl. XXIII. 124/2 Rostellaria curvirostris (Strombus fusus, Linn.), the Spindle of collectors, is by far the most common of the Asiatic species.
II. Senses relating to a rod or axis.figurative.1869 J. Martineau Ess. Philos. & Theol. 2nd Ser. 175 The universe revolving round the spindle of necessity.† 10. A rod or bar forming part of a plough or harrow. Obsolete.
6. A rod, usually of iron or other metal, serving as an axis upon which, or by means of which, something revolves or is turned round.In technical use this sense has developed into many special applications, esp. from the 17th cent. onwards. The earliest examples refer to the rod of the mill-stone (cf. mill spindle n. at mill n.1 Compounds 2 and rind-spindle).
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > revolution or rotation > [noun] > axis
spindle?c1343
centre?c1400
ax-tree1430
axe1551
cleat1611
spin axis1922
?c1343 in J. T. Fowler Extracts Acct. Rolls Abbey of Durham (1899) II. 543 In..2 Spindels.
1345–6 in F. R. Chapman Sacrist Rolls Ely (1907) II. 133 In j pari de Spyndel et cogg. pro molendino equino.
1458 in Brit. Mag. 31 249 Item, to hym for makyng of the Spendel for the fane, xd.
1507–8 in J. Raine Fabric Rolls York Minster (1859) 94 Pro faccione j spyndill for remevyng of ye hamers of ye chyme.
1533 J. Heywood Play of Wether sig. Biiii Our mylstons our whele with her koggs & our trindill..Our hopper our extre our yren spyndyll.
1625–6 in H. J. F. Swayne Churchwardens' Accts. Sarum (1896) 310 Mending of the spindle of the clocke.
1627 J. Smith Sea Gram. ii. 8 Capstaine. The maine body of it is called the Spindle.
1687 A. Lovell tr. J. de Thévenot Trav. into Levant i. 54 They fall a turning round with their naked feet, the left foot serving for a Pivot or Spindle to turn upon.
1719 D. Defoe Life Robinson Crusoe 86 I had no possible Way to make the Iron Gudgeons for the Spindle or Axis of the Wheel to run in.
1764 J. Ferguson Lect. Select Subj. 46 The trundle [of a water~mill] is fixt upon a strong iron axis called the spindle.
1788 Massachusetts Spy 25 Dec. 3/3 An apprentice..being under the spindle of a grindstone, that was going by water, had the hair of his head caught by the spindle.
1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art I. 20 The drill [of a lathe] is screwed, or otherwise fastened, upon the spindle.
1824 ‘R. Stuart’ Descr. Hist. Steam Engine 157 The tail or spindle of the valve k, being pressed upwards, opens the valve.
1862 Catal. Internat. Exhib., Brit. II. No. 6332 A spindle, which is to act on the bolt for shutting and opening the lock.
1889 P. N. Hasluck Model Engineer's Handybk. 98 When the engine is moving with great velocity,..the weights or balls attached to the arms will fly further from the spindle, moving the ring on the spindle.
7.
a. A cylindrical rod or bar provided with grooves so as to act as a screw; spec. that by which the platen of a hand printing-press is lowered and raised.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > lifting or hoisting equipment > [noun] > others
polancre1356
spindle1398
wrest1584
handscrew?1660
sea-crab1689
lewis1743
crab1753
wheel and axle (also axis)1773
tippler1831
fall1834
outrigger hoist1835
lewisson1842
power hoist1869
tipper1870
lifting screw1885
powerlifter1909
bucket chain1911
bracket-crab-
society > communication > printing > printing machine or press > parts of printers or presses > [noun] > spindle
spindle1683
1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomew de Glanville De Proprietatibus Rerum (1495) v. xii. 117 The holes that ben the propre instrumentes of herynge ben wrapped and wounde as a spindle of a presse.
1585 J. Higgins tr. Junius Nomenclator 217 Cochlea, the vice or spindle of a presse: the winding peece.
1678 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises I. ii. 31 The length of a Worm begins at the one end of the Spindle and ends at the other... The depth of the Worm is cut into the diameter of the Spindle.
1683 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises II. 58 The Spindle..is sixteen Inches and a half, the length of the Cilinder the Worms are cut upon is three Inches and a quarter.
1825 ‘J. Nicholson’ Operative Mechanic 295 When the workman pulls this handle, he turns round the spindle l,..and causes the platen to descend and produce the pressure.
1829 Chapters Physical Sci. viii When the spiral is formed upon a cylinder, it is called the spindle, or interior screw, and by some a male screw.
b. A revolving frame used for stirring a mixture.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > equipment for altering consistency > [noun] > stirring apparatus
potstickc1425
mundlec1560
pote1683
poler1688
oar1735
rouser1765
spindle1797
1797 Encycl. Brit. XI. 422/2 The spindle is of light wood, and moves on a brass pivot in the bottom. It has four wooden wings.
1797 Encycl. Brit. XI. 443/1 The..stirring of the mixture with the spindle.
c. A spindle moulder (see sense Compounds 4).
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > machine tool > other specific machine tools > [noun] > other machine tools
mortising machine1655
waving-engine1678
draw plate1776
sticking machine1844
broaching machine1846
sticker1851
shaper1853
mortiser1858
throating machine1866
pointing machine1871
router1872
gaining-machine1875
panel raiser1875
matcher1890
spindle machine1902
spindle1920
1920 F. T. Hill Pract. Aeroplane Constr. 108 This is known as a French spindle, and its cutting action, in order to form the recesses, is shown in the enlarged view on the right.
1920 F. T. Hill Pract. Aeroplane Constr. 110 The cutters..are clamped in the slot in the rotating spindle by the set screw.
1925 W. J. Blackmur How to work Spindle Moulder iii. 29 In working a spindle there are three kinds of cutters—those used on the square block, those used with the slotted cutters, and those used on the French spindle.
8. † a. The newel of a winding stair. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > stairs > [noun] > pillar of spiral staircase
nowel1362
newel1363
spindle1585
newel post1798
1585 J. Higgins tr. Junius Nomenclator 215 Scapus,..the spindle or maine peece of worke whereabout the winding staires doe run.
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Noyau,..the Nuell, or spindle of a winding staire.
b. Geometry. (See quots.) rare.Apparently only attested in dictionaries or glossaries.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > curvature > curved three-dimensional shape or body > cylinder > [noun] > cylindrical object > tapering at ends
spindle1706
the world > relative properties > number > geometry > shape or figure > [noun] > three-dimensional > solid of revolution > formed from curve
conoida1664
paraboloid1677
parabolic conoid1702
spindle1706
hyperboloid1743
1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) Parabolick Spindle.
1801 Encycl. Brit. Suppl. II. 516/2 Spindle, in geometry, a solid body generated by the revolution of some curve line about its base or double ordinate.
1842 G. W. Francis Dict. Arts Spindle,..as a solid, is a circular body, tapering towards both ends; as a superficies, it is flat, tapering also at both ends.
c. A rod upon which the core of a gun-shell is moulded.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > production and development of arms > [noun] > manufacture of firearms and ammunition > instruments
newel1611
spanner1639
height-board1672
height-rule1692
star gauge1784
spindle1842
gun-pendulum1867
1842 R. Burn Naval & Mil. Techn. Dict. French Lang. 8 Arbre,..spindle of a trundle or lantern wheel.
1889 Pall Mall Gaz. 24 Jan. 7/2 By introducing dynamite into the spindle of the grape with a time fuse, much more execution will be done.
9.
a. A stalk, stem, or shoot of a plant, esp. of cereals. ? Obsolete.German spindel has also this sense: cf. spindle v. 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > part of plant > stem or stalk > [noun]
stealc700
stemc888
spirea1000
stalka1366
caulc1420
codd?1440
stalec1440
thighc1440
shank1513
pipe?1523
start?1523
spindle1577
leg1597
scape1601
haulm1623
caulicle1657
culm1657
thyrse1658
scapus1704
stemlet1838
stam1839
caulis1861
caulome1875
tige1900
1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry i. f. 27v The blade of the Wheate is..narrower then the Barley: the Spindel, Stalke, or Strawe thereof, is smoother and gentler.
1608 A. Willet Hexapla in Exodum 178 Abib signifieth the spindle with the eare.
1660 R. Sharrock Hist. Propagation & Improvem. Veg. 118 The Gardiner..not suffering above one, two, or three spindles upon such roots or stools.
1707 J. Mortimer Whole Art Husbandry (1721) II. 121 The Spindles must be often tyed up,..lest by their bending they should break, and their Flowers be lost.
1741 W. Ellis Mod. Husbandman May ii. 28 Hail-Stones..beat down and hurt the Spindle of the Wheat.
1824 ‘A. Singleton’ Lett. from South & West 82 They [sc. Virginians] also call, what we [sc. New Englanders] call the spindle, the tassel.
1847 Knickerbocker Mag. 30 239 The tall corn, whose spindles were high above your head.
1871 Amer. Naturalist 5 245 The corn.. sent forth a new tassel or spindle.
b. In prepositional phrases, denoting a stage or manner of growth.
ΚΠ
1686 R. Plot Nat. Hist. Staffs. i. 23 Another storme of Hail..cut the stalks of the Wheat and Barley (then in spindle) quite asunder.
a1722 E. Lisle Observ. Husbandry (1757) 116 The juices stagnate in the plants, and are not pushed on to tillow, but run to spindle.
1741 W. Ellis Mod. Husbandman May xi. 153 The Wheat was upon the Spindle, and had not shot into Ear.
1764 Museum Rusticum 2 21 When the corn is shot into spindle, and the ears begin to appear.
1896 Midland Herald 4 June (E.D.D.) Forward crops [of wheat] are in full spindle and give promise of being in full ear by the 14th inst.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > tools and implements > ploughing equipment > [noun] > plough > other parts of plough
plough-line1384
plough-strake1395
cleat1419
weigh-tree1578
spindle1616
pole wedge1733
table1763
throat1771
brace1808
wang1808
wing-bar1844
sill1877
the world > food and drink > farming > tools and implements > harrowing equipment > [noun] > harrow > parts of
harrow-tooth1483
bull?1523
harrow-bull?1523
spindle1616
whippin1697
whippletree1733
tining1760
sheth1788
slot1799
harrow-tine-
1616 G. Markham tr. C. Estienne et al. Maison Rustique (rev. ed.) v. vi. 532 The composition of plows..consisteth vpon the beame, the skeath, the head, the hales the spindles, the rest [etc.].
a1642 H. Best Farming & Memorandum Bks. (1984) 127 Att Martynmasse..wee sette our foreman to cuttinge of..saughes, for heck-stowers and harrowe-spindles.
1736 J. Lewis Hist. Antiq. 15 Next the Handle of the Plough is this Wreest, supported by a Piece of Iron which they call a Spindle.
11. Nautical. The upper part or section of a made wooden mast.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > masts, rigging, or sails > spar > [noun] > mast > mast made of several pieces > parts of
spindle1597
arris piece1717
headpiece1794
side tree1794
tongue1815
1597 F. Vere Comm. 48 My mainmast being in the partners rent to the very spindell which was eleven inches deep.
1670 J. Covel Diary in J. T. Bent Early Voy. Levant (1893) 128 There appear'd a very bright Helena at the very spindle of the main top mast.
1697 W. Dampier New Voy. around World xv. 414 We saw a Corpus Sant at our Main-top-mast head, on the very top of the truck of the Spindle.
1752 Philos. Trans. 1749–50 (Royal Soc.) 46 111 Sundry very large Comazants.., some of which settled on the Spintles at the Top~mast Heads.
1794 D. Steel Elements & Pract. Rigging & Seamanship I. 13 The spindle, or upper tree, of large masts is made of two pieces.
c1860 H. Stuart Novices or Young Seaman's Catech. (rev. ed.) 73 Two spindle pieces dowelled and bolted to each other... Two side trees..dowelled and bolted to the spindle.
12. in extended use.1870 R. W. Emerson Farming in Wks. (1906) III. 60 Set out a pine-tree, and it dies in the first year, or lives a poor spindle.
a. U.S. A stout iron rod or pole fixed on a rock as a guide to shipping.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > buoys, marks, or lighthouses > [noun] > object on land or sea as guide > pole as navigation mark
perch1466
perch tree1553
spindle1819
perch-pole1850
1819 Statutes at Large (U.S.) III. 535 A spindle on the rock off the point of Fairweather Island.
1829 Statutes at Large (U.S.) IV. 345.
1843 Amer. Jrnl. in Civil Engineer & Archit. Jrnl. 7 (1844) 68/1 Upon many of the reefs in Long Island Sound..it has been the practice..to erect wrought iron spindles of about 4 in. diameter, and from 15 to 25 ft. in height.
1904 Hartford (Connecticut) Courant 19 Aug. 13 What this man was really doing was simply placing a spindle on Magazine Rock.
b. A slender cylindrical rod (esp. of metal) or other object of this shape.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > curvature > curved three-dimensional shape or body > cylinder > [noun] > cylindrical object > slender cylinder
spindle1829
1829 Nat. Philos. (Libr. Useful Knowl.) I. Mechanics ii. 30 The teeth of the wheel..are made to act upon a form of wheel called a lantern... The cylindrical teeth or bars of the lantern are called trundles or spindles.
1902 E. Banks Autobiogr. Newspaper Girl 187 If he wants the article he puts it on a spindle or in a pigeon-hole.
13. midlands dialect. The third swarm of bees from a hive in one year.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Hymenoptera > [noun] > suborder Apocrita, Petiolata, or Heterophaga > group Aculeata (stinging) > superfamily Apoidea (bees) > swarm of bees > third of season
colt1742
spindle1825
1825 W. Hone Every-day Bk. (1826) I. 647 A Warwickshire correspondent says, that in that county ‘..the second [swarm] from the same hive is called a cast, and the third..a spindle..’.
1853 Notes & Queries 1st Ser. 8 575/2 In the midland counties the first migration of the season is a swarm,..the third a spindle.
Compounds
C1.
a. In sense 1 (in later use especially in combinations relating to machine-spinning), as spindle-band, spindle-box, spindle-carriage, spindle-hook, spindle-maker, spindle-production, spindle-work.
ΚΠ
1483 Cath. Angl. 355/1 A Spyndelle maker, fusarius.
1598 J. Florio Worlde of Wordes Fusaro, a spindle maker.
1638 F. Junius Painting of Ancients 298 He is likewise commended for a picture of spindle worke, wherein the threads of every spinning woman seem to make very great haste.
1770 J. Hargreaves Brit. Patent 962 (1856) (in figure) Two notches in the framing on which stands the Spindle Box..containing the spindles.
1825 ‘J. Nicholson’ Operative Mechanic 422 One of the spindle-hooks of the spinning-machine.
1835 A. Ure Philos. Manuf. 178 The part of the billy which contains the spindle-carriage is movable..through what is called the billy-gate.
1835 A. Ure Philos. Manuf. 274 These two bars together are called by workmen the spindle-box.
1892 J. Nasmith Students' Cotton Spinning (1893) ix. 357 It does not pay to use spindle bands made of inferior material.
1892 Daily News 1 Oct. 2/5 The demand for yarns is regular, and about equal to spindle production.
b. With numerals, as two-spindle, etc.
ΚΠ
1835 A. Ure Philos. Manuf. 159 Some of them are two spindle,..others six spindle-frames.
1884 W. S. B. McLaren Spinning Woollen & Worsted (ed. 2) 128 2nd, two two-spindle gill boxes; 3rd, four-spindle drawing box.
c. In sense 6, as spindle-end, spindle-gearing, spindle-lathe, spindle-screw, spindle-valve.
ΚΠ
1869 W. J. M. Rankine Cycl. Machine & Hand-tools Pl.H 8 The pinion, a, keyed on the spindle end, takes into an intermediate wheel, b.
1869 W. J. M. Rankine Cycl. Machine & Hand-tools Pl.H 8 The back shaft, e, being arranged to throw out of gear with the spindle gearing.
1875 E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. II. 1262/2 The spindle-lathe has a rotating axis in the head~stock, to which the work is attached.
1875 E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. III. 2269/2 Spindle-valve, a valve having an axial guide-stem.
1895 Model Steam Engine 88 As the spindle-screws are of the same fineness, and with right and left threads.
C2.
a. Of the limbs (or person), in the sense, ‘thin, slender, lacking in robustness’. See also spindle-shank n.
ΚΠ
a1586 in J. Pinkerton Anc. Sc. Poems (1786) 201 To the rude scho maid ane vow, ‘For I sall hit thy spindill schyn’.
1648 H. Hexham Groot Woorden-boeck Spille-been, spindle leggs, or leane Shankes.
1681 T. D'Urfey Progr. Honesty iv. 4 One that could flatter every Golden Clod, And call my Spindle Lord..his God.
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory ii. 401/2 The slender Legs, such as have no Calf: Spindle Legs.
1828 E. Bulwer-Lytton Pelham II. xxvi. 288 You have thrust those spindle legs of yours into your coat-sleeves instead of your breeches!
1843 T. Carlyle Past & Present ii. x. 122 The burden their poor spindle-limbs totter and stagger under.
b. Of things, in the sense ‘having the form of a spindle; cylindrical with a taper towards either end’.
ΚΠ
1708 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 26 79 Turbinites, The Spindle Periwinkle.
?1711 J. Petiver Gazophylacii VII.–VIII. Table 73 Limington Spindle Fossil... A very rare Shell.
1765 Treat. Domest. Pigeons 55 It is a very small Pigeon, with a..very short and spindle beak, and a round button head.
1840 J. Buel Farmer's Compan. (ed. 2) 156 A spindle root may be able to draw an abundance of nourishment from land..exhausted by short or creeping roots.
1903 A. M. Clerke Probl. Astrophysics 443 All spindle-nebulæ were resolved into spirals viewed aslant.
C3. Parasynthetic.
a.
spindle-celled adj.
ΚΠ
1871 T. H. Green Introd. Pathol. & Morbid Anat. 117 The soft round-celled varieties are..much more malignant than the firmer spindle-celled growths.
1899 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. VIII. 846 The treatment of spindle-celled sarcoma of the skin is not easy to formulate.
spindle-formed adj.
ΚΠ
1899 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. VIII. 600 Long, spindle-formed, partially pigmented cells appear round the vessels.
spindle-pointed adj.
ΚΠ
1884 F. O. Bower & D. H. Scott tr. H. A. de Bary Compar. Anat. Phanerogams & Ferns 27 Their obliquely tapered or spindle-pointed ends.
spindle-rooted adj.
ΚΠ
1796 C. Marshall Introd. Knowl. & Pract. Gardening xviii. 363 Spindle rooted plants (as stocks), should be transplanted where they are to blow, as young as may be.
1830 J. Baxter Libr. Agric. & Hort. Knowl. 424 The early short-topped and salmon among the spindle-rooted [radishes], and the small white and red among the turnip-rooted may be sown for succession crops every fortnight.
spindle-shinned adj.
ΚΠ
1775 J. Ash New Dict. Eng. Lang. Spindleshin[n]ed, having small legs.
b.
spindle-like adj.
ΚΠ
1831 J. F. South tr. A. W. Otto Pathol. Anat. 485 A whole row of spindle-like swellings.
c.
spindle-wise adv.
ΚΠ
1591 R. Percyvall Bibliotheca Hispanica Dict. at Ahusada figura Shaped spindle wise.
C4. Special combinations:† spindle bud n. Obsolete ? a bud giving rise to a shoot or stem.† spindle-pear n. Obsolete a pear having the elongated form of a spindle.† spindle-whirl n. Obsolete
spindle-back n. used attributively to designate a chair with a back consisting of framed cylindrical bars.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > seat > chair > [adjective] > types of chair
caned1696
rush-bottomed1696
rush-bottom1729
roundabout chair1741
leather-bottomed1783
stick-back1783
poker-backed1830
flag-bottomed1840
claw-footed1858
seatless1871
cane-bottomed1877
cane-seated1881
sag-seated1890
sit-up1891
slat-back1891
sag-bottomed1893
spindle-back1896
shield-back1897
Carver1902
basket-bodied1903
panel-back1904
Cromwellian1905
hooped-back1906
saddle-backed1910
hard-arsed1933
sling-back1948
X-frame1955
hard-arse1964
1896 Heal & Son Catal.: Bedroom Furnit. 156 Solid Oak Spindleback Rush-Seat Chair..£0 19 6.
1918 Heal & Son Catal.: Cottage Furnit. 18 ‘Spindle Back’ Arm Chair, stained oak colour..28/-.
1937 Times 15 Nov. 19/4 One could repeat this story in respect of the spindleback chairs made in the West of England from the Solway Firth to Herefordshire.
1959 G. Savage Antique Collector's Handbk. 126 The Lancashire spindle-back chair is similar in many ways to the ladder-back.
spindle-berry n. the bright red fruit of the spindle-tree, Euonymus europæus.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > cultivated or ornamental trees and shrubs > [noun] > spindle-tree(s) > berry
spindle-berry1921
1921 19th Cent. June 1039 The dying glory of bracken, oak, birch, mountain-ash and spindle~berry.
1923 Daily Mail 12 Sept. 15/4 Pink spindle berries are lovely in a pewter mug.
1950 J. Brooke Goose Cathedral viii. 167 The hedges were hung with a multitude of spindleberries—lurid purple bursting into fiery orange.
ΚΠ
1658 R. Austen Observ. Bacon's Nat. Hist. 16 If withall some of the side-slips, (and also of the buds which the Roote shoots up for flowers) be cut off,..they will become much larger than if all the spindle buds were suffered to grow.
spindle cell n. Medicine and Biology a narrow, elongated cell; spec. one in the blood of some lower vertebrates analogous to the platelet in mammals; frequently attributive (cf. spindle-celled adj. at Compounds 3a).
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > biology > substance > cell > types of cells > [noun] > other types of cells
reticular cell1832
torula1833
reserve cell1842
subcell1844
parenchyma cell1857
pedicel cell1858
nettle cell1870
heterocyst1872
prickle cell1872
angioblast1875
palisade cell1875
sextant1875
spindle cell1876
neuroblast1878
body cell1879
plasma cell1882
reticulum cell1882
stem cell1885
Langhans1886
basal cell1889
pole cell1890
myelocyte1891
statocyst1892
mast cell1893
thrombocyte1893
iridocyte1894
precursor1895
nurse cell1896
amacrine1900
statocyte1900
mononuclear1903
oat cell1903
myeloblast1904
trochoblast1904
adipocyte1906
polynuclear1906
fibrocyte1911
akaryote1920
Rouget cell1922
Sternberg–Reed1922
amphicyte1925
monoblast1925
pericyte1925
promyelocyte1925
pituicyte1930
agamete1932
sympathogonia1934
athrocyte1938
progenitor1938
Reed–Sternberg cell1939
submarginal1941
delta cell1942
mastocyte1947
squame1949
podocyte1954
transformed cell1956
transformant1957
spheroplast1958
pinealocyte1961
immunocyte1963
lactotroph1966
mammotroph1966
minicell1967
proheterocyst1970
myofibroblast1971
cybrid1974
1876 T. Bryant Pract. Surg. (ed. 2) I. iii. 134 Some spindle-cell sarcomas will recur often after removal.
1901 A. P. Ohlmacher in Hektoen & Riesman Text-bk. Path. I. 200 It [sc. round-celled sarcoma] grows more rapidly, and is generally softer and more malignant than the spindle-cell sarcoma.
1905 J. S. Ferguson Normal Histol. iii. 34 In the denser forms of mature connective tissue..the connective tissue cells lose their typical embryonal stellate form and become somewhat fusiform; they are then known as the spindle cells of connective tissue.
1905 J. S. Ferguson Normal Histol. vi. 81 Confusion..has arisen from the supposed analogy of the true blood platelets of human blood with certain other structures found in the blood of the lower vertebrates, especially the ‘spindle-cells’ of amphibians.
1949 A. S. Romer Vertebr. Body xiii. 427 In most nonmammalian vertebrates the thrombocytes take the form of spindle cells—small, oval, pointed structures with a central nucleus.
1959 W. Andrew Textbk. Compar. Histol. ix. 371 Spindle cells are conspicuous and probably should be thought of as fusiform lymphocytoid cells rather than platelet-forming elements.
1971 T. J. Hara in Hoar & Randall Fish Physiol. V. iv. 88 Aside from the taste buds, specialized epidermal ‘spindle’ cells were found on the head and body of minnows and various teleost fishes.
1976 Path. Ann. 11 214 (caption) Spindle cell variant of thymic carcinoid tumor.
spindle cross n. Heraldry a cross having arms shaped somewhat like a spindle.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > indication > insignia > heraldic devices collective > charge: device on shield > cross > [noun] > other types of cross
potencec1460
cross patonce1562
entrailed1562
Avellan1610
Greek cross1725
Latin cross1797
pendall?1828
spindle cross1828
Irish cross1832
cross patée1844
Celtic cross1857
Teutonic cross1882
1828 W. Berry Encycl. Her. Pandall, Pendall, or Spindle Cross.
spindle fibre n. Cytology any of the microtubular strands which form the visible structure of a spindle (sense 4c above).
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > biology > biological processes > genetic activity > genetic components > [noun] > chromosome > spindle or spindle fibre
spindle1878
spindle fibre1878
mitosome1895
mantle fibre1896
monaster1901
cleavage-spindle1912
telomere1940
1878 Q. Jrnl. Microsc. Sci. 18 229 The spindle-fibres are identical with the stellate rays.
1896 E. B. Wilson Cell 50 Spindle-fibres.
1905 H. Wager in Rep. Brit. Assoc. 565 The chromosomes..arrange themselves in regular order in the equatorial plane of the spindle figure, and some of the spindle fibres become attached to them.
1920 L. Doncaster Introd. Cytol. 30 The spindle-fibres connecting the two centrosomes.
1974 Encycl. Brit. Micropædia VI. 946/1 In anaphase the chromatid pairs separate and are pulled to opposite ends of the cell by the spindle fibres.
spindle hour n. an hour during which a spindle is involved in spinning, used as a unit of measurement.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture of thread or yarn > [noun] > spinning > machine > parts of > spindle > hour during which spindle is in use
spindle hour1930
1930 Times 24 Mar. 23/5 Mill activity in the cotton growing states, measured by spindle hours, established a high record.
1970 P. R. Lord Spinning in '70s 11 Production per spindle hour has been increased by raising spindle speeds.
spindle machine n.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > machine tool > other specific machine tools > [noun] > other machine tools
mortising machine1655
waving-engine1678
draw plate1776
sticking machine1844
broaching machine1846
sticker1851
shaper1853
mortiser1858
throating machine1866
pointing machine1871
router1872
gaining-machine1875
panel raiser1875
matcher1890
spindle machine1902
spindle1920
1902 G. Ellis Mod. Pract. Joinery xxiii. 364 Spindle machine, an irregular moulding machine in which the cutters are fixed at the end of a vertical spindle which projects through the table.
1915 Machine Woodworker 15 Nov. 15/2 Running moulds from thicknessed boards on spindle machine may do if it is a special type of mould.
spindle moulder n. a woodworking machine used to shape mouldings, in which one or more cutters are carried on a spindle.
ΚΠ
1912 Machine Woodworker 15 July 17/2 A spindle moulder being a machine that has to do a large variety of work, the stock of cutters should be large.
1925 W. J. Blackmur How to work Spindle Moulder i. 11 As the spindle moulder is used for working regular sections upon edges of various shaped pieces of wood it is best to place it close to the band saw.
1965 F. L. Dunsmore Technique Woodworking Machinery II. i. 14 No machine has a greater selection of cutter heads than the spindle moulder.
spindle moulding n.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > building or constructing > constructing or working with wood > [noun] > other processes
framing1440
riving?1440
traversing1524
wedging1678
furring1679
cocking1710
bearding1711
battening1788
rossing1839
thicknessing1870
splining1901
parting off1905
reconditioning1932
stress grading1936
spindle moulding1979
1979 Building Dec. 105/3 Planing, thicknessing, sawing, routing and spindle moulding.
spindle oil n. a light distillation product of petroleum, used for lubrication esp. of high-speed machinery.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > extracted or refined oil > [noun] > distilled or refined mineral oils > lubricating oils
liquor1559
lubricant1828
machine oil1863
spindle oil1887
black oil1896
brick oil1898
Three-in-one1928
lube1956
1887 B. J. Crew Pract. Treat. Petroleum ix. 316 Spindle oils. Distillers of residuum usually divide their products into three classes... The third..product constitutes the stock for spindle and machinery oils.
1931 Engineering 2 Jan. 1/2 Oil PL will be recognised as a ‘spindle oil’, used only for lightly loaded high speed journals.
1977 Lubricants Business (Shell Internat. Petroleum Co.) 1 Refining of the distillates, which removes unsuitable components, produces lubricating oil fractions of the desired properties ranging from thin spindle oil to heavy cylinder oil.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular types of fruit > [noun] > pear > other types of
calewey1377
honey peara1400
pome-pear1440
pome-wardena1513
choke-pear1530
muscadel1555
worry pear1562
lording1573
bon-chrétienc1575
Burgundian pear1578
king pear1585
pound pear1585
poppering1597
wood of Jerusalem1597
muscadine1598
amiot1600
bergamot1600
butter pear1600
dew-pear1600
greening1600
mollart1600
roset1600
wax pear1600
bottle pear1601
gourd-pear1601
Venerian pear1601
musk pear1611
rose pear1611
pusill1615
Christian1629
nutmeg1629
rolling pear1629
surreine1629
sweater1629
amber pear1638
Venus-pear1648
horse-pear1657
Martin1658
russet1658
rousselet1660
diego1664
frith-pear1664
maudlin1664
Messire Jean1664
primate1664
sovereign1664
spindle-pear1664
stopple-pear1664
sugar-pear1664
virgin1664
Windsor pear1664
violet-pear1666
nonsuch1674
muscat1675
burnt-cat1676
squash pear1676
rose1678
Longueville1681
maiden-heart1685
ambrette1686
vermilion1691
admiral1693
sanguinole1693
satin1693
St. Germain pear1693
pounder pear1697
vine-pear1704
amadot1706
marchioness1706
marquise1706
Margaret1707
short-neck1707
musk1708
burree1719
marquis1728
union pear1728
Doyenne pear1731
Magdalene1731
beurré1736
colmar1736
Monsieur Jean1736
muscadella1736
swan's egg1736
chaumontel1755
St Michael's pear1796
Williams1807
Marie Louise1817
seckel1817
Bartlett1828
vergaloo1828
Passe Colmar1837
glou-morceau1859
London sugar1860
snow-pear1860
Comice1866
Kieffer pear1880
sand pear1880
sandy pear1884
snowy pear1884
1664 J. Evelyn Kalendarium Hortense 80 in Sylva The Squib-pear, Spindle-pear, Virgin.
spindle point n. with reference to the time at or during which the process of spinning goes on.
ΚΠ
1927 Observer 2 Oct. 19/5 The prices agreed upon had been calculated upon the basis of mule and ring mills rationally equipped and financed, and take into consideration production for forty-eight hours, percentage loss up to spindle point [etc.].
spindle-shell n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > class Gastropoda > [noun] > superorder Branchifera > order Prosobranchiata > section Siphonostomata > family Strombidae > fugus brevis (spindle-shell)
spindle-shell1711
spindle1842
spindle-stromb1861
1711 J. Petiver Gazophylacii VI. Table LVI Knotty chained Indian Spindle Shell.
1775 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 65 238 These anemonies had been found on old volutes, called spindle-shells (fucus brevis).
1861 P. P. Carpenter in Rep. Smithsonian Inst. 1860 175 Another group, of which the Spindle-shells are the type, have no varices at all.
1881 Cassell's Nat. Hist. V. 193 The ‘Spindle-shell’, Fusus.., is extensively dredged for the markets.
spindle-stromb n. (see quots.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > class Gastropoda > [noun] > superorder Branchifera > order Prosobranchiata > section Siphonostomata > family Strombidae > fugus brevis (spindle-shell)
spindle-shell1711
spindle1842
spindle-stromb1861
1861 P. P. Carpenter in Rep. Smithsonian Inst. 1860 198 These creatures may be regarded as Spindle-strombs.
1881 Cassell's Nat. Hist. V. 192 The genus Rostellaria, or the ‘Spindle-stromb’, is marked by having a very much elongated spire.
spindle-twirl n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture of thread or yarn > [noun] > spinning > machine > parts of > spindle > whorl of
whirl1411
whorlc1440
wherne1552
warblea1561
spindle-whirl1648
whare1688
spindle-twirl1855
spindle-whorl1874
1855 Archaeologia 36 135 About the middle of the body was a bronze finger ring, and a stone spindle-twirl.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture of thread or yarn > [noun] > spinning > machine > parts of > spindle > whorl of
whirl1411
whorlc1440
wherne1552
warblea1561
spindle-whirl1648
whare1688
spindle-twirl1855
spindle-whorl1874
1648 H. Hexham Groot Woorden-boeck Een Spille-wervel, a Whirle for a Spindle, or a Spindle-whirle.
spindle-whorl n. a whorl used for weighting a spindle.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture of thread or yarn > [noun] > spinning > machine > parts of > spindle > whorl of
whirl1411
whorlc1440
wherne1552
warblea1561
spindle-whirl1648
whare1688
spindle-twirl1855
spindle-whorl1874
1874 W. B. Dawkins Cave Hunting iii. 103 The number of personal ornaments and the spindle-whorls imply the presence of the female sex.
spindle-wood n. the spindle-tree, or the wood of this.
ΚΠ
1712 J. Browne tr. P. Pomet et al. Compl. Hist. Druggs I. 129 The Tree is like Spindle-Wood, or Priests-Cap.
1885 St. James's Gaz. 2 Jan. 6/1 Spindle-wood, which is nowhere plentiful, is reserved for skewers.
spindle-worm n. U.S. the maize eating larva of a noctuid moth ( Achatodes zeæ).
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > Heterocera > [noun] > family Noctuidae > achatodes zeae
spindle-worm1839
1839 T. W. Harris Treat. Insects Injurious to Vegetation (1862) 438 Indian corn..often suffers severely from the depredations of one of these Nonagrians, known to our farmers by the name of spindle-worm.
Derivatives
ˈspindleless adj. having no spindle or spindles.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > parts of machines > wheel > [adjective] > with or without specific parts
axlessa1618
cogged1825
spoky1832
soled1845
sprocketed1875
unfellied1885
spoked1890
vaned1891
sprocketless1897
spindleless1964
hubless1970
1964 Gloss. Letterpress Rotary Printing Terms (B.S.I.) 7 Spindleless reel stand, a reel stand supporting the reel on free-running cones at each side of the reel.
1967 Economist 29 Apr. 459/3 There [i.e. in Czechoslovakia] the BD 200 spindleless spinning unit has been developed; by next year it will be modified to run at 40,000 rpm as against the conventional spindle's 10,000.
Draft additions 1993
The vertical rod at the centre of the turntable of a record-player, which keeps the record in place during play; frequently one on which records are stacked for automatic record-changing.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > record > recording or reproducing sound or visual material > sound recording and reproduction > sound recording or reproducing equipment > [noun] > record-playing equipment > other parts
sound-box1876
reproducer1883
scratch filter1929
spindle1940
groove-locating unit1941
reject button1947
1940 Gramophone Dec. 163/2 This changer is fitted with a spring loaded spindle to minimise the chances of record slip.
1955 D. Keene Who was Wilma Lathrop? ii. 19 Wilma stacked the spindle with records.
1961 E. N. Bradley Records & Gramophone Equipm. i. 22 The most likely cause of wow is a swinger—a record whose spindle hole is not exactly central and so turns eccentrically as a result.
1976 Gramophone Oct. 695/1 [The record changer's] overarm can be removed and a stub spindle can be substituted for single record use.
1983 J. Fuller Convergence xxix. 296 The Beethoven quartets were still on the turntable... He lifted them on the spindle and switched the machine on.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1914; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
spindlev.
/ˈspɪnd(ə)l/ 1. figurative.a1864 N. Hawthorne Dr. Grimshawe (1891) i. 3 The cemetery..might probably have nourished..whatever else is of English growth, without that tendency to spindle upwards and lose their sturdy breadth.
a. intransitive. Of cereals: To shoot up into the slender stalks on which the ear is formed.So German spindeln in dialect use.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > cereal, corn, or grain > [verb (intransitive)] > grow or produce parts (of plants)
grain1390
ear1442
spindle1577
to run to straw1660
tassel out1757
spean1829
spane1843
silk1878
1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry i. f. 27 When the Spring draweth on, it [sc. wheat] beginneth to spindle.
1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry i. f. 32 When it beginnes to spindel, it must be well weeded.
1616 G. Markham tr. C. Estienne et al. Maison Rustique (rev. ed.) v. vii. 534 I must needs discommend that manner of weeding..which is vsed after the corne is spindled.
1655 R. Child in S. Hartlib Legacy (ed. 3) 139 Corn sown in July,..if it should begin to spindle, (as the Husbandmen call it) it is very easie..to prevent it.
a1722 E. Lisle Observ. Husbandry (1757) 127 In the hot countries it is a frequent calamity, that the corn will not spindle, that is, will not come out of the hose.
1763 J. Mills New Syst. Pract. Husbandry II. 201 The whole had already spindled, which made me sorry I had sowed so early.
1805 R. W. Dickson Pract. Agric. I. 550 Great care is necessary to see that the whole is completed before the crop begins to spindle.
1846 Jrnl. Royal Agric. Soc. 7 ii. 344 The author has never once seen a single plant of the..rye to spindle before the following spring.
b. Of flowering plants: To form the stalk or stem on which the flowers are produced.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > part of plant > reproductive part(s) > flower or part containing reproductive organs > flower or flowering plant > be a flowering plant [verb (intransitive)] > form stem for flowers
spindle1601
spindle1601
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World II. 253 Even so doth the decoction of Lonchitis, if it bee taken before it spindle and run vp to seed.
1665 J. Rea Flora 163 When they begin to rise to spindle, nip of such as are smallest.
1725 R. Bradley Chomel's Dictionaire Œconomique at Pink When the Pinks begin to Spindle, they will then require a little more Care.
1821 J. Clare Village Minstrel II. 173 Feather~headed grasses, spindling rank.
1824 T. Hogg Conc. & Pract. Treat. Carnation (ed. 3) 35 When the plants begin to spindle, or shoot up for bloom, they require to be supported by sticks.
c. With up or upward(s). In later use sometimes implying too slender a growth.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > part of plant > reproductive part(s) > flower or part containing reproductive organs > flower or flowering plant > be a flowering plant [verb (intransitive)] > form stem for flowers
spindle1601
spindle1601
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World I. 558 No sooner commeth the spring, but they begin to grow up into straw, and to spindle upward pointwise.
a1722 E. Lisle Observ. Husbandry (1757) 142 The blade, after it is come up, will die away, and then spindle up again.
1796 Hist. Ned Evans I. 282 He resembled those exotic plants which spindle up in our hot-houses.
1810 W. Wordsworth Descr. Lakes in J. Wilkinson Select Views p. xxxi If an attempt be made to mingle thickets, or a certain proportion of other trees, with the larch,—its horizontal branches intolerantly cut them down as with a scythe or force them to spindle up to keep pace with it.
1841 Florist's Jrnl. (1846) 2 197 Too much water..makes them spindle up and flower prematurely.
1881 Daily News 4 June 5/6 Wheat is very thin,..the plant not stooling satisfactorily, but spindling up.
2.
a. To shoot out or up, to develop by rapid growth or attenuation, into something thin or unsubstantial.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > condition of being long in relation to breadth > slenderness > become slender [verb (intransitive)] > and weak or fragile
spindle1785
1785 W. Cowper Task v. 11 From ev'ry herb..Stretches a length of shadow o'er the field. Mine, spindling into longitude immense,..Provokes me to a smile.
1833 M. Scott Tom Cringle's Log II. i. 20 ‘Here, Sir,’ squealed Timothy, his usual gruff voice spindling into a small cheep.
1854 J. R. Lowell Jrnl. Italy in Wks. (1890) I. 203 That fairest variety of mortal grass which with us is apt to spindle so soon into a somewhat sapless womanhood.
1860 R. W. Emerson Power in Conduct of Life (London ed.) 65 The gardener, by severe pruning, forces the sap of the tree into one or two vigorous limbs, instead of suffering it to spindle into a sheaf of twigs.
b. To become spindly or weak.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > bodily constitution > bodily weakness > become weak [verb (intransitive)]
woke993
unstrengea1225
feeble?c1225
windlec1325
enfeeblish1382
weaken?1541
spindle1863
1863 W. Thornbury True as Steel I. 210 I will..betake myself to the service of the Elector.., where I can win a place for myself in the van, and not spindle and pine as I do here.
c. To rise in a slender form.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > condition of being long in relation to breadth > slenderness > become slender [verb (intransitive)] > rise in slender form
spindle1897
1897 Catholic News 6 Nov. 5/3 If one or two prayer-towers spindled above Ballydehob it would be a perfect Turkish village.
3. transitive. To fit with, fix upon, a spindle or axis.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > parts of machines > wheel > furnish with wheel(s) [verb (transitive)] > furnish with specific parts
ax1481
box1482
spoke1720
tree1765
spindle1833
collet1884
1833 J. C. Loudon Encycl. Cottage Archit. §1301 An oak curb to be made to go all round the mill and the millwright [to be] assisted in rimming it, and spindling the stone.
4. To spin (a garment). rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture of thread or yarn > [verb (transitive)] > spin > spin a garment
spindle1887
1887 A. Austin Prince Lucifer iv. ii I will..clip the July fleeces for your hands To spindle me a jacket.
5. To recess and taper (a spar for an aeroplane's wing); to cut out (a recess) in a spar.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > air or space travel > a means of conveyance through the air > construction and servicing aircraft or spacecraft > construct and service aircraft or spacecraft [verb (transitive)] > recess and taper spars
spindle1918
1918 Aeronaut. Jrnl. Feb. 44 Jigs for small parts should be so constructed that several pieces may be spindled at the same time.
1919 A. J. S. Pippard & J. L. Pritchard Aeroplane Struct. 201 Questions of strength determine the amount which can safely be spindled out.
1919 A. J. S. Pippard & J. L. Pritchard Aeroplane Struct. 201 By far the commonest form of spar is the timber one, usually spruce or an equally good wood, cut out of the solid and spindled to an I section for lightness.
1920 F. T. Hill Pract. Aeroplane Constr. v. 106 Having drilled the spar, the next operation will be to spindle out the recess.
1920 T. H. Jones & J. D. Frier Aeroplane Struct. Design 204 Originally they [sc. spars] were almost invariably cut from long solid pieces of timber suitably spindled at points between spar fittings into the common I section.
1920 T. H. Jones & J. D. Frier Aeroplane Struct. Design 205 The ordinary I section spindled out from the solid rectangular section.
1928 Technical Rep. Aeronaut. Res. Committee 1926–7 466 These specimens were first formed..with a length of 2 inches spindled to give a cross section geometrically similar to the fractured portion of the spar.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1914; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.c725
v.1577