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🧵 A thread maker 🎣 A fishing lure 🎲 A game dial 🌀 A spinning toy ⏳ A loading icon
spinner

spinner

1 3.2
A small toy you turn quickly with your fingers for fun or to help you focus
  • noun
  • /ˈspɪnər/
  • Informal
translation icon : fidget spinner
  • The colorful spinner mesmerized the children at the park as they took turns flicking it.
  • fidget spinner
  • spinner craze

It's one of the drawstring bags, fidget spinner.

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Examples

  • That is now a fidget spinner cast in metal.

  • So cool, just stopping to look at the fidget spinners on the way.

  • Give them the spinner, kid!

    The Last Detail (1973)

  • Are we, is this just a fidget spinner in general or is this a specific brand?

  • I think it's got plastic spinners.

    Step Up (2006)

  • How to make a cheap bottle-top spinner.

    Blog text (4)

  • Normally there are multiple fidget spinners in my bag.

  • Oh my gosh, there's fidget spinners on this set.

  • So they bought fidget spinners or slime or slime.

  • He always carries a spinner in his pocket to relieve stress during meetings.

Synonyms

whirly
vsspinner
1 8.4

A small toy that spins quickly in the wind

is the specific toy often flicked for quick fun or stress relief
whizzer
vsspinner
  • UK
7.9

A small toy that spins quickly and makes a buzzing sound

focuses on quick spinning and stress relief rather than making noise
whirligig
vsspinner
8.6

A small toy that spins quickly on a point like a top

is flicked by hand for quick stress relief rather than spun on a point

Compounds

money-spinner
  • UK
4.9

A business or product that makes a lot of money

web spinner
  • Specialized
9.9

A slender tropical insect that lives in colonies and spins silk tunnels for nests

web spinner
  • Texting
3.9

A small spinning image on a website that shows the page is loading

How Fast

spinner
  • Informal
1 3.2
peg top
  • UK
7.6

Surface Forms

spinner singular
spinners plural

Morphology

spinner = spin (transparent) = spin + er

The toy is named by the regular agentive/nominal derivation from 'spin' with '-er' indicating 'thing that spins'.

Etymology

The word spinner comes from the verb spin, which means 'to turn fast'. A small toy called a spinner is made to be flicked so it turns quickly in your hand, so the name simply describes its action.