spinning top

noun

"spinning-top" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“spinning top” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
12
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A toy with a tapering point that can be made to spin on its axis, either with a built-in pump-action handle, with the fingers or with a string.

Corpus desk

Index EN-spinning-top · spinning top · English

spinning top · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 12 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "S" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for spinning top
PropertyValue
Headwordspinning top
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters12
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “spinning top” in English

spinning topfalls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

spinning top is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A toy with a tapering point that can be made to spin on its axis, either with a built-in pump-action handle, with the fingers or with a string.".

spinning top has no tracked misspelling variants, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct English form is spinning top, spelled S-P-I-N-N-I-N-G- -T-O-P.

Definition

  1. 1
    A toy with a tapering point that can be made to spin on its axis, either with a built-in pump-action handle, with the fingers or with a string.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how spinning top appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Patel says the muons behave a bit like a child’s spinning top, in rotating around the axis of the magnetic field. However, as the muons move, they wobble.

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "spinning top"?
"spinning top" is spelled S-P-I-N-N-I-N-G- -T-O-P.
What does "spinning top" mean?
As a noun, "spinning top" means: A toy with a tapering point that can be made to spin on its axis, either with a built-in pump-action handle, with the fingers or with a string.
What language does "spinning top" come from?
"spinning top" is a English word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list