Adjacent Words

Spiral definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

SPI'RAL, a. [L. spira, a spire.] Winding round a cylinder or other round body, or in a circular form, and at the same time rising or advancing forward; winding like a screw. The magnificent column in the Place Vendeme, at Paris, is divided by a spiral line into compartments. It is formed with spiral compartments, on which are engraved figures emblematical of the victories of the French armies. A whirlwind is so named from the spiral motion of the air. Water in a tunnel descends in a spiral form.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: in the shape of a coil [syn: coiling, helical, spiral, spiraling, volute, voluted, whorled, turbinate] n
1: a plane curve traced by a point circling about the center but at increasing distances from the center
2: a curve that lies on the surface of a cylinder or cone and cuts the element at a constant angle [syn: helix, spiral]
3: a continuously accelerating change in the economy
4: ornament consisting of a curve on a plane that winds around a center with an increasing distance from the center [syn: spiral, volute]
5: a structure consisting of something wound in a continuous series of loops; "a coil of rope" [syn: coil, spiral, volute, whorl, helix]
6: flying downward in a helical path with a large radius v
1: to wind or move in a spiral course; "the muscles and nerves of his fine drawn body were coiling for action"; "black smoke coiling up into the sky"; "the young people gyrated on the dance floor" [syn: gyrate, spiral, coil]
2: form a spiral; "The path spirals up the mountain"
3: move in a spiral or zigzag course [syn: corkscrew, spiral]

Merriam Webster's

I. adjective Etymology: Medieval Latin spiralis, from Latin spira coil — more at spire Date: 1551 1. a. winding around a center or pole and gradually receding from or approaching it <the spiral curve of a watch spring> b. helical c. spiral-bound <a spiral notebook> 2. of or relating to the advancement to higher levels through a series of cyclical movements • spirally adverb II. noun Date: 1656 1. a. the path of a point in a plane moving around a central point while continuously receding from or approaching it b. a three-dimensional curve (as a helix) with one or more turns about an axis 2. a single turn or coil in a spiral object 3. something having a spiral form as: a. spiral galaxy b. (1) a spiral flight (2) a kick or pass in which a football rotates on its long axis while moving through the air 4. a continuously spreading and accelerating increase or decrease <wage spirals> III. verb (-raled or -ralled; -raling or -ralling) Date: 1834 intransitive verb to go and especially to rise or fall in a spiral course <costs spiraled upward> transitive verb 1. to form into a spiral 2. to cause to spiral

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj., n., & v. --adj. 1 winding about a centre in an enlarging or decreasing continuous circular motion, either on a flat plane or rising in a cone; coiled. 2 winding continuously along or as if along a cylinder, like the thread of a screw. --n. 1 a plane or three-dimensional spiral curve. 2 a spiral spring. 3 a spiral formation in a shell etc. 4 a spiral galaxy. 5 a progressive rise or fall of prices, wages, etc., each responding to an upward or downward stimulus provided by the other (a spiral of rising prices and wages). --v. (spiralled, spiralling; US spiraled, spiraling) 1 intr. move in a spiral course, esp. upwards or downwards. 2 tr. make spiral. 3 intr. esp. Econ. (of prices, wages, etc.) rise or fall, esp. rapidly (cf. sense 5 of n.). Phrases and idioms: spiral balance a device for measuring weight by the torsion of a spiral spring. spiral galaxy a galaxy in which the matter is concentrated mainly in one or more spiral arms. spiral staircase a staircase rising in a spiral round a central axis. Derivatives: spirality n. spirally adv. Etymology: F spiral or med.L spiralis (as SPIRE(2))

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Spiral Spi"ral, n. [Cf. F. spirale. See Spiral, a.] 1. (Geom.) A plane curve, not re["e]ntrant, described by a point, called the generatrix, moving along a straight line according to a mathematical law, while the line is revolving about a fixed point called the pole. Cf. Helix. 2. Anything which has a spiral form, as a spiral shell. Equiangular spiral,a plane curve which cuts all its generatrices at the same angle. Same as Logarithmic spiral, under Logarithmic. Spiral of Archimedes, a spiral the law of which is that the generatrix moves uniformly along the revolving line, which also moves uniformly.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Spiral Spi"ral, a. [Cf. F. spiral. See Spire a winding line.] 1. Winding or circling round a center or pole and gradually receding from it; as, the spiral curve of a watch spring. 2. Winding round a cylinder or imaginary axis, and at the same time rising or advancing forward; winding like the thread of a screw; helical. 3. (Geom.) Of or pertaining to a spiral; like a spiral. Spiral gear, or Spiral wheel (Mach.), a gear resembling in general a spur gear, but having its teeth cut at an angle with its axis, or so that they form small portions of screws or spirals. Spiral gearing, a kind of gearing sometimes used in light machinery, in which spiral gears, instead of bevel gears, are used to transmit motion between shafts that are not parallel. Spiral operculum, an operculum whih has spiral lines of growth. Spiral shell, any shell in which the whorls form a spiral or helix. Spiral spring. See the Note under Spring, n., 4.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(spirals, spiralling, spiralled) Note: in AM, use 'spiraling', 'spiraled' 1. A spiral is a shape which winds round and round, with each curve above or outside the previous one. N-COUNT • Spiral is also an adjective. ...a spiral staircase. ADJ: ADJ n 2. If something spirals or is spiralled somewhere, it grows or moves in a spiral curve. Vines spiraled upward toward the roof... A joss stick spiralled smoke. VERB: V adv/prep, V n, also V • Spiral is also a noun. Larks were rising in spirals from the ridge. N-COUNT 3. If an amount or level spirals, it rises quickly and at an increasing rate. Production costs began to spiral. ...a spiralling trend of violence... The divorce rate is spiralling upwards. VERB: V, V -ing, V adv/prep • Spiral is also a noun. ...an inflationary spiral. ...a spiral of debt. N-SING: with supp 4. If an amount or level spirals downwards, it falls quickly and at an increasing rate. House prices will continue to spiral downwards. VERB: V adv/prep

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. a. Winding (like the thread of a screw), cochleary, cochleated, spiry, helical, screw-shaped. II. n. Helix, worm.

Moby Thesaurus

Milky Way, O-shaped, Via Lactea, acrobatics, aerobatics, ambagious, anfractuous, arise, ascend, aspire, backhanded, bank, banking, barred spiral, barred spiral galaxy, become airborne, chandelle, circle, circling, circuit, circuiteer, circuition, circuitous, circuitousness, circuitry, circular, circularity, circulate, circulation, circumambience, circumambiency, circumambulate, circumambulation, circumflexion, circumlocution, circummigrate, circummigration, circumnavigate, circumnavigation, circumvent, cirrus, claw skyward, close the circle, cochlear, cochleate, coil, coiled, come full circle, come up, compass, corkscrew, corkscrewy, cosmic noise, crab, crabbing, curl, curl upwards, curlicue, cycle, describe a circle, deviance, deviancy, deviating, deviation, deviative, devious, deviousness, digression, digressive, dip, discursive, dive, diving, encircle, encompass, entwine, evolute, excursion, excursive, excursus, feather, fishtail, fishtailing, flank, float, fly, fly aloft, gain altitude, galactic circle, galactic cluster, galactic coordinates, galactic latitude, galactic longitude, galactic nebula, galactic noise, galactic pole, galaxy, girdle, girdle the globe, glide, go about, go around, go round, go the round, go up, grow up, gyre, gyring, hang, helical, helicoid, helix, hover, indirect, indirection, involute, island universe, kink, kite, lap, leave the ground, levitate, loom, loop, make a circuit, meandering, mount, nose dive, oblique, orbit, orbital, orbiting, out-of-the-way, plane, plow, poise, porpoise, power dive, pull out, pull up, pull-up, pullout, push down, pushdown, rear, rear up, revolve, ringlet, rise, rise up, roll, rolling, rotary, round, roundabout, roundaboutness, rounding, screw, screw-shaped, scroll, scrolled, sideslip, skid, skirt, soar, spheroidal galaxy, spin, spiral galaxy, spiral nebula, spiraling, spire, spiroid, stall, stand up, stunt, stunting, supergalaxy, surge, surround, swarm up, sweep up, swirl, tactical maneuvers, take off, tendril, tower, turbinal, turbinate, turn, turning, twine, twirl, twist, undulate, up, upgo, upgrow, upheave, uprise, upspin, upstream, upsurge, upswarm, upwind, verticillate, volplane, volute, voluted, volution, vortex, wheel, wheeling, whirl, whorl, whorled, wreathe, yaw, zoom