spun

spun — verb

1. the past-tense form of the verb 'spin', serving as both simple past and past par

1.verbtransitive / intransitiveA2
Definition

the past-tense form of the verb 'spin', serving as both simple past and past participle

Example

Hoa spun the toy top on the wooden floor and watched it wobble.

transitive: spun + object (the toy top)

The tyres of Jõo's car spun on the muddy hill road.

intransitive: spun + on + [surface]

Common collocations
  • spun around
  • spun on
  • spun + object + (adverb/preposition)
  • tyres spun
  • wheels spun
  • fan spun
Synonyms
  • twirled

    more deliberate, often used for people or objects held and turned by hand; narrower scope than spun

  • rotated

    more technical and formal; implies turning around a central fixed axis

  • whirled

    more energetic and fast; suggests a blur of motion

Antonyms
  • stopped

    the opposite of beginning or continuing to spin

Grammar Patterns

spun + object

spun + adverb or prepositional phrase

be + spun (passive)

Usage Note

Commonly used with adverbs of direction or location (around, round, on, above) to describe how something moves while turning. The same form works as both past simple ('the wheel spun') and past participle ('has spun', 'was spun').

Common Mistakes

The dancer spinned around three times.
The dancer spun around three times.
'spinned' is not a correct English word; the past tense of 'spin' is always 'spun'.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/1

All four words describe turning motion, but they differ in how the movement happens and how fast it is. Spun is the most general — it covers everything from a slow ceiling fan to a fast car wheel on ice. Twirled suggests something deliberately turned by hand, like twirling a pen or a baton. Rotated is more technical and is often used in science, maths, or formal contexts ('The Earth rotated on its axis'). Whirled is faster than spun and implies chaotic or blurring speed, like a dancer whirling across a stage. In everyday conversation, spun is by far the most common choice: 'Hoa spun the toy top' sounds natural, while 'Hoa rotated the toy top' sounds oddly scientific and 'Hoa whirled the toy top' sounds exaggerated.

twirledrotatedwhirled

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • spun out of control
  • spun on the spot
  • spun to a stop

Prepositions

Etymology

Old EnglishMiddle EnglishEnglish

Spun comes from Old English 'spinnan', which originally meant 'to draw out and twist fibres into thread'. The sense of 'turning around quickly' developed later because the hand motion of spinning thread involves a rapid twisting movement. By the 1600s, the word was already being used for anything that revolved or rotated quickly.