See spin a yarn in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
{
"etymology_text": "By metaphor from spinning fibers into yarn or thread, as for example at a spinning wheel.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "spins a yarn",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "spinning a yarn",
"tags": [
"participle",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "spun a yarn",
"tags": [
"participle",
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "spun a yarn",
"tags": [
"past"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "spin<,,spun> a yarn"
},
"expansion": "spin a yarn (third-person singular simple present spins a yarn, present participle spinning a yarn, simple past and past participle spun a yarn)",
"name": "en-verb"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "verb",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [
"Entries with incorrect language header",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Entries with translation boxes",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Pages with 1 entry",
"parents": [],
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},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Pages with entries",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Finnish translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with French translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Polish translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Russian translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
}
],
"derived": [
{
"word": "yarn-spinner"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1864, Anthony Trollope, chapter 14, in Can You Forgive Her?:",
"text": "Now I must tell you a little about myself;—or rather, I am inclined to spin a yarn, and tell you a great deal.",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To tell or create a story, especially one which is lengthy or far-fetched."
],
"id": "en-spin_a_yarn-en-verb-redGNFb5",
"links": [
[
"story",
"story"
],
[
"lengthy",
"lengthy"
],
[
"far-fetched",
"far-fetched"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(idiomatic) To tell or create a story, especially one which is lengthy or far-fetched."
],
"tags": [
"idiomatic"
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "tell a story",
"word": "kertoa satuja"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "tell a story",
"word": "sepittää"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "tell a story",
"word": "monter un bateau"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "tell a story",
"word": "raconter des balivernes"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "tell a story",
"word": "raconter des salades"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "tell a story",
"word": "raconter des histoires"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "tell a story",
"tags": [
"imperfective"
],
"word": "bajać"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "tell a story",
"tags": [
"perfective"
],
"word": "sprzedać historię (komuś, a false one)"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"note": "about tall tales",
"sense": "tell a story",
"tags": [
"imperfective"
],
"word": "opowiadać głodne kawałki"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "rassusolivatʹ",
"sense": "tell a story",
"tags": [
"imperfective"
],
"word": "рассусоливать"
}
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"audio": "En-au-spin a yarn.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/2/2d/En-au-spin_a_yarn.ogg/En-au-spin_a_yarn.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2d/En-au-spin_a_yarn.ogg"
}
],
"word": "spin a yarn"
}
{
"derived": [
{
"word": "yarn-spinner"
}
],
"etymology_text": "By metaphor from spinning fibers into yarn or thread, as for example at a spinning wheel.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "spins a yarn",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "spinning a yarn",
"tags": [
"participle",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "spun a yarn",
"tags": [
"participle",
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "spun a yarn",
"tags": [
"past"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "spin<,,spun> a yarn"
},
"expansion": "spin a yarn (third-person singular simple present spins a yarn, present participle spinning a yarn, simple past and past participle spun a yarn)",
"name": "en-verb"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "verb",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English idioms",
"English lemmas",
"English multiword terms",
"English terms with quotations",
"English verbs",
"Entries with translation boxes",
"Pages with 1 entry",
"Pages with entries",
"Quotation templates to be cleaned",
"Terms with Finnish translations",
"Terms with French translations",
"Terms with Polish translations",
"Terms with Russian translations"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1864, Anthony Trollope, chapter 14, in Can You Forgive Her?:",
"text": "Now I must tell you a little about myself;—or rather, I am inclined to spin a yarn, and tell you a great deal.",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To tell or create a story, especially one which is lengthy or far-fetched."
],
"links": [
[
"story",
"story"
],
[
"lengthy",
"lengthy"
],
[
"far-fetched",
"far-fetched"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(idiomatic) To tell or create a story, especially one which is lengthy or far-fetched."
],
"tags": [
"idiomatic"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"audio": "En-au-spin a yarn.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/2/2d/En-au-spin_a_yarn.ogg/En-au-spin_a_yarn.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2d/En-au-spin_a_yarn.ogg"
}
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "tell a story",
"word": "kertoa satuja"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "tell a story",
"word": "sepittää"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "tell a story",
"word": "monter un bateau"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "tell a story",
"word": "raconter des balivernes"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "tell a story",
"word": "raconter des salades"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "tell a story",
"word": "raconter des histoires"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "tell a story",
"tags": [
"imperfective"
],
"word": "bajać"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "tell a story",
"tags": [
"perfective"
],
"word": "sprzedać historię (komuś, a false one)"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"note": "about tall tales",
"sense": "tell a story",
"tags": [
"imperfective"
],
"word": "opowiadać głodne kawałki"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "rassusolivatʹ",
"sense": "tell a story",
"tags": [
"imperfective"
],
"word": "рассусоливать"
}
],
"word": "spin a yarn"
}
Download raw JSONL data for spin a yarn meaning in English (3.0kB)
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-01-25 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-01-20 using wiktextract (c15a5ce and 5c11237). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
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