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spiral
7 dictionary results for: Spiral
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
spi·ral       [spahy-ruhl] Pronunciation Key noun, adjective, verb, -raled, -ral·ing or (especially British) -ralled, -ral·ling.
–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 speǐra anything coiled, wreathed, or twisted; see spire2) + -ālis -al1]

—Related forms
spi·ral·i·ty       [spahy-ral-i-tee] Pronunciation Key, noun
spi·ral·ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
spi·ral       (spī'rəl)  Pronunciation Key 
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.
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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
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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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
spiral

adjective
1. in the shape of a coil [syn: coiling] 

noun
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] 
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 
5. a structure consisting of something wound in a continuous series of loops; "a coil of rope" [syn: coil] 
6. flying downward in a helical path with a large radius 

verb
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] 
2. form a spiral; "The path spirals up the mountain" 
3. move in a spiral or zigzag course [syn: corkscrew] 

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
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American Heritage Stedman's Medical Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

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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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

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.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

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 Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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