# spin out

CEFR B2 · Phrasal verb

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/spin-out
Updated: 2026-10-23

## Definition

to make something last longer than it really needs to, or to lose control of a car so that it turns around and around.

For teachers: to protract a process or narrative beyond its natural or necessary duration; alternatively, to lose directional control of a vehicle, resulting in a series of rotations. The transitive sense (protract) is often used in business or creative contexts.

## Examples

- He tried to spin out the meeting until five o'clock.
- The driver hit a patch of ice and watched the car spin out into the ditch.
- The novelist managed to spin out a thin plot into a five-hundred-page epic, though critics found the pacing somewhat sluggish.

## Pitfalls

- Not "The car spun out it on the road." but "The car spun out on the road." — when referring to a vehicle losing control, the verb is intransitive and does not take a direct object.

## Usage notes

- when meaning 'to protract', it is transitive and often separable; the vehicular sense is intransitive.
- Teaching tip: distinguish between the physical loss of control (intransitive) and the intentional extension of time (transitive); the latter often carries a slightly negative connotation of wasting time.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.