ENGLISH
REFERENCE

spun

v.
B1 Intermediate US //ˈspən// UK //spˈʌn// spun

v. the past tense of 'spin'. It describes when something turned around quickly many times, or when someone made thread by twisting wool or cotton.

v. the past tense and past participle of 'spin'. Describes the action of rotating rapidly around an axis or the process of twisting fibres together to form yarn.


SIMPLE

The dancer spun around on one foot.

CONTEXTUAL

The car spun out of control on the icy road but luckily didn't hit anything.

COMPLEX

The spider spun a complex web across the garden gate overnight, catching the morning dew in its delicate silk threads.

Synonyms
Usage

Irregular past tense and past participle of 'spin'. Can be used transitively (spinning an object) or intransitively (the object itself rotating).

Pitfall

The coin spinned on the table.The coin spun on the table.'Spin' is an irregular verb; the past tense is 'spun', not 'spinned'.

© 2026 English Reference