Spindled

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Having long, thin, and often twisted strands or projections resembling those of a spindle
2. being constructed or formed into a shape that tapers or narrows at one end
3. characterized by an elongated and slender appearance that may evoke the shape or function of a spindle

Etymology: "Spindled" is the past tense of "spindle" used as a verb meaning to draw out something until it becomes thin and long. The noun it comes from is ancient in English: Old English "spindle" was an alteration of an earlier "spinel" and "spinil," and it goes back to a Proto-West Germanic form built from "spin" and a small suffix, making it literally "the thing you spin with." Its relatives survive across the Germanic languages, from Dutch "spindel" and German "Spindel" to Swedish "spindel." The verb grew naturally from that tool. A spindle is a slender rod that twists fibre into thread, so to spindle something is to stretch it out in the same long, narrow way the thread is drawn, and the sense of thinness comes straight from the spindle's shape. The noun is also the source of an odd American detail: the dragonfly sense is a calque of Swedish "slända," introduced by settlers of New Sweden.

Synonyms: twisted, coiled, spiraled