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Spiral

 - 7 dictionary results
Spiral
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spi⋅ral

  [spahy-ruhl] noun, adjective, verb, -raled, -ral⋅ing or (especially British) -ralled, -ral⋅ling.
Use Spiral in a Sentence
–noun
1. Geometry. a plane curve generated by a point moving around a fixed point while constantly receding from or approaching it.
2. a helix.
3. a single circle or ring of a spiral or helical curve or object.
4. a spiral or helical object, formation, or form.
5. Aeronautics. a maneuver in which an airplane descends in a helix of small pitch and large radius, with the angle of attack within that of the normal flight range.
6. Football. a type of kick or pass in which the ball turns on its longer axis as it flies through the air.
7. Economics. a continuous increase in costs, wages, prices, etc. (inflationary spiral), or a decrease in costs, wages, prices, etc. (deflationary spiral).
–adjective
8. running continuously around a fixed point or center while constantly receding from or approaching it; coiling in a single plane: a spiral curve.
9. coiling around a fixed line or axis in a constantly changing series of planes; helical.
10. of or of the nature of a spire or coil.
11. bound with a spiral binding; spiral-bound: a spiral notebook.
–verb (used without object)
12. to take a spiral form or course.
13. to advance or increase steadily; rise: Costs have been spiraling all year.
14. Aeronautics. to fly an airplane through a spiral course.
–verb (used with object)
15. to cause to take a spiral form or course.
Origin:
1545–55; < ML spīrālis, equiv. to L spīr(a) coil (< Gk speîra anything coiled, wreathed, or twisted; see spire 2 ) + -ālis -al 1

Related forms:
spi⋅ral⋅i⋅ty  [spahy-ral-i-tee] , noun
spi⋅ral⋅ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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spi·ral   (spī'rəl)   
n.  

    1. A curve on a plane that winds around a fixed center point at a continuously increasing or decreasing distance from the point.

    2. A three-dimensional curve that turns around an axis at a constant or continuously varying distance while moving parallel to the axis; a helix.

    3. Something having the form of such a curve: a spiral of black smoke.

  2. Printing A spiral binding.

  3. The course or flight path of an object rotating on its longitudinal axis.

  4. A continuously accelerating increase or decrease: the wage-price spiral.

adj.  

  1. Of or resembling a spiral.

  2. Circling around a center at a continuously increasing or decreasing distance.

  3. Coiling around an axis in a constantly changing series of planes; helical.

  4. Printing Relating to or having a spiral binding: a spiral notebook.

v.   spi·raled also spi·ralled, spi·ral·ing also spi·ral·ling, spi·rals also spi·rals

v.   intr.

  1. To take a spiral form or course.

  2. To rise or fall with steady acceleration.

v.   tr.
To cause to take a spiral form or course.

[Medieval Latin spīrālis, of a spiral, from Latin spīra, coil; see spire2.]
spi·ral'i·ty (spī-rāl'ĭ-tē) n., spi'ral·ly adv.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

spiral  (adj.)
1551, from M.Fr. spiral, from M.L. spiralis "winding, coiling" (1255), from L. spira "coil," from Gk. speira "coil, twist, wreath," from PIE *sper- "to turn, twist." The verb is attested from 1834; the fig. sense is from 1922. The noun is first recorded 1656; U.S. football sense is from 1896. Spiral galaxy first attested 1913.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: 1spi·ral
Pronunciation: 'spI-r&l
Function: adjective
1 a : winding around a center or pole and gradually recedingfrom or approaching it b : HELICAL spiral structure of DNA>
2 : being afracture in which the break is produced by twisting apart the bone spiral break> —spi·ral·ly /-r&-lE/ adverb

Main Entry: 2spiral
Function: noun
1 : the path of a point in a plane moving around a central point while continuously receding from or approaching it
2 : a three-dimensional curve (as a helix) with one or more turns about an axis spiral of DNA>
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

spiral spi·ral (spī'rəl)
adj.
Coiling or developing around an axis in a constantly changing series of planes; helical. n.
A structure in the shape of a coil. v. spi·raled or spi·ralled, spi·ral·ing or spi·ral·ling, spi·rals or spi·rals
To take the form or course of a spiral.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Encyclopedia

spiral

plane curve that, in general, winds around a point while moving ever farther from the point. Many kinds of spiral are known, the first dating from the days of ancient Greece. The curves are observed in nature, and human beings have used them in machines and in ornament, notably architectural-for example, the whorl in an Ionic capital. The two most famous spirals are described below.

Learn more about spiral with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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