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Spiral   /spˈaɪrəl/   Listen
noun
Spiral  n.  
1.
(Geom.) A plane curve, not reentrant, 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.



adjective
Spiral  adj.  
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.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Spiral" Quotes from Famous Books



... friendly coachman's announcement we never knew. But the "p'tit bateau" worked magically. The figure of Mere Mouchard materialized at once into such zeal, such effusion, such a zest of welcome, that we, our bags, and our coachman were on the instant toiling up a pair of spiral wooden stairs. There was quite a little crowd to fill the all-too-narrow landing at the top of the steep steps, a crowd that ended in a long line of waiters and serving-maids, each grasping a remnant of luggage. Our hostess, meanwhile, was fumbling at a door-lock—an obstinate door that refused ...
— In and Out of Three Normady Inns • Anna Bowman Dodd

... V., opposite, is a facsimile of another engraving of the same series—the Sun in Leo. It is even more extravagant in accessories than the Venus. You see the Sun's epaulets before you see the sun; the spiral scrolls of his chariot, and the black twisted rays of it, might, so far as types of form only are considered, be a design for some modern court-dress star, to be made in diamonds. And yet all this wild ornamentation is, if ...
— Ariadne Florentina - Six Lectures on Wood and Metal Engraving • John Ruskin

... supplied with forced ventilation through 12-in. and 14-in. No. 16, spiral-riveted, asphalted pressure pipes, canvas extensions being used beyond the ends of the pipes. A No. 4 American Blower, located at the top of each shaft and driven by a 15-h.p. General ...
— Transactions of the American Society of Civil Engineers, Vol. LXVIII, Sept. 1910 • James H. Brace and Francis Mason

... started out with a ragged undershirt and a pair of white, baggy breeches. He entered Nairobi at the end of the trip with a cap, a neat khaki shirt, two water bottles, a cartridge belt, a sash with a tassel, a pair of spiral puttees, an old pair of shoes, and a personal private small boy, picked up en route from some of the savage tribes, to carry his cooking pot, make his fires, draw his water, and generally perform his lordly behests. This ...
— The Land of Footprints • Stewart Edward White

... dinner table Gyp, very obviously, made a secret sign to Jerry. She brought one hand, with a little downward, spiral movement, to rest upon the other hand, the first two fingers ...
— Highacres • Jane Abbott


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