spindle

noun

• 1a slender rounded rod with tapered ends used in hand spinning to twist and wind thread from a mass of wool or flax held on a distaff.
• a pin or rod used on a spinning wheel to twist and wind the thread.
• a pin bearing the bobbin of a spinning machine.
• a measure of length for yarn, equal to 15,120 yards (13,826 m) for cotton or 14,400 yards (13,167 m) for linen.
• North American a pointed metal rod on a base, used to impale paper items for temporary filing.
• a turned piece of wood used as a banister or chair leg.

• 2a rod or pin serving as an axis that revolves or on which something revolves.
• the vertical rod at the center of a record turntable that keeps the record in place during play.

• 3 Biology a slender mass of microtubules formed when a cell divides. At metaphase, the chromosomes become attached to it by their centromeres before being pulled toward its ends.

• 4 (also spindle tree) a shrub or small tree with slender toothed leaves and pink capsules containing bright orange seeds. The hard timber was formerly used for making spindles.

  • Genus Euonymus, family Celastraceae: several species, in particular the Eurasian E. europaeus

verb

• impale (a piece of paper) on a metal spindle for temporary filing purposes:do not fold, spindle, or mutilate