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To draw out, and twist into threads, either by the hand or machinery; as, to spin wool, cotton, or flax; to spin goat's hair; to produce by drawing out and twisting a fibrous material. All the yarn she [Penelope] spun in Ulysses' absence did but fill Ithaca full of moths. Shak.

A congenital malformation in which the spinal column is cleft at its lower portion, and the membranes of the spinal cord project as an elastic swelling from the gap thus formed.

Of, pertaining to, or resembling, the plant spinach, or the family of plants to which it belongs.

A common pot herb (Spinacia oleracea) belonging to the Goosefoot family. Mountain spinach. See Garden orache, under Orache. -- New Zealand spinach (Bot.), a coarse herb (Tetragonia expansa), a poor substitute for spinach.

Of or pertaining to a spine or spines. Spinal accessory nerves, the eleventh pair of cranial nerves in the higher vertebrates. They originate from the spinal cord and pass forward into the skull, from which they emerge in company with the pneumogastrics. -- Spinal column, the backbone, or connected series or vertebræ…

Bearing a spine; spiniform.

The long, round, slender rod or pin in spinning wheels by which the thread is twisted, and on which, when twisted, it is wound; also, the pin on which the bobbin is held in a spinning machine, or in the shuttle of a loom.

Having long, slender legs.

Having long, slender legs. Addison.

Having the shape of a spindle.

A spindlehanks.

A person with slender shanks, or legs; -- used humorously or in contempt.

The pintail duck. [Local, U.S.]

The larva of a noctuid mmoth (Achatodes zeæ) which feeds inside the stalks of corn (maize), sometimes causing much damage. It is smooth, with a black head and tail and a row of black dots across each segment.

Long and slender, or disproportionately tall and slender; as, a spindling tree; a spindling boy.

Same as Spoondrift.

The backbone, or spinal column, of an animal; -- so called from the projecting processes upon the vertebræ.

Having fine supported by spinous fin rays; -- said of certain fishes.

Having the tail quills ending in sharp, naked tips. Spine- tailed swift. (Zoöl.) See Spinetail (a).

A fish having spines in, or in front of, the dorsal fins.