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PlainSpell

spin

/spɪn/verb, noun

spin is spelled S-P-I-N: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 24 times per million words in written English, the 3,752nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, spin means “To rotate, revolve, gyrate (usually quickly); to partially or completely rotate to face another direction” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in spin?

Letters4: S-P-I-N
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing24 times per million words; the 3,752nd most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is spin?

Spin appears 24 times per million words in written English, the 3,752nd most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce spin?

  • /spɪn/

Spin has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-spin.ogg, En-au-spin.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with spin?

No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as spin.

Spelled with the same letters in another order: pins, snip.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of spin

  • spins present, singular, he/she/it, plural
  • spinning participle, present
  • spun past, participle
  • span past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does spin mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

verb

  1. 1

    To rotate, revolve, gyrate (usually quickly); to partially or completely rotate to face another direction.

    I spun myself around a few times.

  2. 2

    To enter, or remain in, a spin (abnormal stalled flight mode).

  3. 3

    To cause one's aircraft to enter or remain in a spin (abnormal stalled flight mode).

  4. 4

    To make yarn by twisting and winding fibers together.

    They spin the cotton into thread.

  5. 5

    To present, describe, or interpret, or to introduce a bias or slant, so as to give something a favorable or advantageous appearance.

  6. 6

    To make the ball move sideways when it bounces on the pitch.

    This pitch is usually preferred for spin than pace.

  7. 7

    To move sideways when bouncing.

    Spinning the ball gave him figures of 7-48.

  8. 8

    To form into thin strips or ribbons, as with sugar.

noun

  1. 1

    Circular motion, usually rapid.

    The car went into a spin.

  2. 2

    A state of confusion or disorientation.

    My mind was in a spin.

  3. 3

    A quantum angular momentum associated with subatomic particles, which also creates a magnetic moment.

  4. 4

    A novel, creative variation of an existing thing or type; a twist.

  5. 5

    A favourable comment or interpretation intended to bias opinion on an otherwise unpleasant situation.

    spin doctor

  6. 6

    Rotation of the ball as it flies through the air; sideways movement of the ball as it bounces.

  7. 7

    A condition of flight where a stalled aircraft is simultaneously pitching, yawing, and rolling in a spinning motion.

  8. 8

    An abnormal condition in journal bearings where the bearing seizes to the rotating shaft and rotates inside the journal, destroying both the shaft and the journal.

  9. 9

    slangA special interest of an autistic person.

  10. 10

    Clipping of spinnaker.

    “Frank!” Joe yelled. “Run the spin halyard to the cabin-top winch and pass me the free end!”

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Spin in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchtournoyer, pivoter rapidement (to turn around quickly), filer (to make yarn), tour (circular motion), spin, tournoiement (physics: quantum angular momentum)
Germanrotieren, schleudern (to turn around quickly), spinnen (to make yarn), schönreden, positiv darstellen, beschönigen (to present a bias)
Portuguesegirar, rodar (to turn around quickly), fiar (to make yarn), giro (circular motion), pinotar (to move sideways when bouncing), tecer (of spider, silkworm etc: to form from thread)
Spanishgirar, rotar, dar vueltas (to turn around quickly), hilar (to make yarn), dorar la píldora, pintar bonito (to present a bias)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does spin come from?

From Middle English spinnen, from Old English spinnan, from Proto-Germanic *spinnaną, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)penh₁-.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after spin