Word.ws English Dictionary

spinning out

spinning out is the present participle and gerund of spin out.

Meaning of spin out

Verb

spin out (third-person singular simple present spins out, present participle spinning out, simple past and past participle spun out)

  1. (ambitransitive, idiomatic) To prolong; to make longer (in time or extent).
    • The film was spun out to three hours, despite the plot running out after two.
    Synonyms:
    drag out, string out
  2. (intransitive) To rotate about the yaw axis while skidding, such that the vehicle's longitudinal axis is no longer aligned with its direction of linear motion.
    • Two cars spun out on the icy road and wound up in a ditch.
  3. (ambitransitive) To cause one's vehicle to rotate about the yaw axis while skidding, such that the vehicle's longitudinal axis is no longer aligned with its direction of linear motion; or to experience such behavior from one's vehicle.
    • The Formula One driver spun out on a tight curve.
  4. To form a subsidiary company which continues part of the prior operations of the parent company.
  5. (informal) To freak out; to experience a mental health crisis, especially one that is public or damaging; to be drawn into and derailed by a psychotic break, burst of anger, etc; to fail catastrophically, especially if caused by a freak out.
    Synonyms:
    spin off
  6. To be at the upper limit of one's cadence, and therefore unable to pedal faster, especially when there is no higher gear available, such as when descending very rapidly.

Questions about spinning out

What is spinning out the present participle and gerund of?
Spinning out is the present participle and gerund of spin out.

Words near spinning out in the dictionary

  1. spinning jenny
  2. spinning mule
  3. spinning mules
  4. spinning off
  5. spinning one's wheels
  6. spinning out
  7. spinning plates
  8. spinning rod
  9. spinning rods
  10. spinning round
  11. spinning rust

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: spinning out (page history and authors); spin out (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “spinning out.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/spinning_out. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.