"spiral" meaning in English

See spiral in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

IPA: /ˈspaɪrəl/ Audio: en-us-spiral.ogg [US] Forms: spiral [singular], spirals [plural]
Head templates: {{noun}} [POS TABLE]
  1. A spiral is a shape that has a curve that curves closer and closer to a point until it stops.
    Sense id: simple-spiral-en-noun-eSRdDO4x

Verb

IPA: /ˈspaɪrəl/ Audio: en-us-spiral.ogg [US] Forms: spiraled [past], spiraled [past, participle], spiraling [present, participle], spiral [canonical], spirals [third-person, singular], spiralled [past], spiralled [past, participle], spiralling [present, participle]
Head templates: {{verb}} [POS TABLE], {{verb|spiral|l}} [POS TABLE]
  1. If something is spirals, it moves along the path of a spiral or helix.
    Sense id: simple-spiral-en-verb-GFfDDl11
  2. If something spirals, it increases or decreases dramatically.
    Sense id: simple-spiral-en-verb-Vxeew~JB
{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "spiral",
      "tags": [
        "singular"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "spirals",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "expansion": "[POS TABLE]",
      "name": "noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [],
      "glosses": [
        "A spiral is a shape that has a curve that curves closer and closer to a point until it stops."
      ],
      "id": "simple-spiral-en-noun-eSRdDO4x",
      "raw_tags": [
        "countable"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈspaɪrəl/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-spiral.ogg",
      "raw_tags": [
        "Audio"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "spiral"
}

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "spiraled",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "spiraled",
      "tags": [
        "past",
        "participle"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "spiraling",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "participle"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "spiral",
      "tags": [
        "canonical"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "spirals",
      "tags": [
        "third-person",
        "singular"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "spiralled",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "spiralled",
      "tags": [
        "past",
        "participle"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "spiralling",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "participle"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "expansion": "[POS TABLE]",
      "name": "verb"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "spiral",
        "2": "l"
      },
      "expansion": "[POS TABLE]",
      "name": "verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The falling leaves spiraled down from the tree."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "If something is spirals, it moves along the path of a spiral or helix."
      ],
      "id": "simple-spiral-en-verb-GFfDDl11",
      "raw_tags": [
        "transitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Her debts were spiraling out of control."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "If something spirals, it increases or decreases dramatically."
      ],
      "id": "simple-spiral-en-verb-Vxeew~JB",
      "raw_tags": [
        "transitive",
        "figurative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈspaɪrəl/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-spiral.ogg",
      "raw_tags": [
        "Audio"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "spiral"
}
{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "spiral",
      "tags": [
        "singular"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "spirals",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "expansion": "[POS TABLE]",
      "name": "noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "Countable nouns"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A spiral is a shape that has a curve that curves closer and closer to a point until it stops."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "countable"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈspaɪrəl/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-spiral.ogg",
      "raw_tags": [
        "Audio"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "spiral"
}

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "spiraled",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "spiraled",
      "tags": [
        "past",
        "participle"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "spiraling",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "participle"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "spiral",
      "tags": [
        "canonical"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "spirals",
      "tags": [
        "third-person",
        "singular"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "spiralled",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "spiralled",
      "tags": [
        "past",
        "participle"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "spiralling",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "participle"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "expansion": "[POS TABLE]",
      "name": "verb"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "spiral",
        "2": "l"
      },
      "expansion": "[POS TABLE]",
      "name": "verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "Transitive verbs"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The falling leaves spiraled down from the tree."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "If something is spirals, it moves along the path of a spiral or helix."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "transitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "Transitive verbs"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Her debts were spiraling out of control."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "If something spirals, it increases or decreases dramatically."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "transitive",
        "figurative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈspaɪrəl/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-spiral.ogg",
      "raw_tags": [
        "Audio"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "spiral"
}

Download raw JSONL data for spiral meaning in English (1.7kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-04-16 from the simplewiktionary dump dated 2025-04-03 using wiktextract (b0b7a66 and 3185d56). 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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