spiral

1. 1.

   a plane curve traced by a point circling about the center but at increasing distances from the center

   Broadercurve
2. 2.

   a curve that lies on the surface of a cylinder or cone and cuts the element at a constant angle

   Synonymshelix

   Broadercurve

   Narrowerdouble helix
3. 3.

   a continuously accelerating change in the economy

   Broadereconomic process

   Narrowerinflationary spiraldeflationary spiral
4. 4.

   ornament consisting of a curve on a plane that winds around a center with an increasing distance from the center

   Synonymsvolute

   Broaderdecoration
5. 5.

   a structure consisting of something wound in a continuous series of loops

   “a coil of rope”

   Synonymscoilvolutewhorlhelix

   Broaderstructure

   Narrowerhank
6. 6.

   flying downward in a helical path with a large radius

   Broaderrotation

1. 1.

   to wind or move in a spiral course

   “the muscles and nerves of his fine drawn body were coiling for action”

   “black smoke coiling up into the sky”

   “the young people gyrated on the dance floor”

   Synonymsgyratecoil

   Broaderturn
2. 2.

   form a spiral

   “The path spirals up the mountain”

   Broaderwind
3. 3.

   move in a spiral or zigzag course

   Synonymscorkscrew

   Broaderturn

1. 1.

   in the shape of a coil

   Synonymscoilinghelicalspiralingvolutevolutedwhorledturbinate

   Similarcoiled

Other forms of spiral

plural

spirals·

past tense or participle

spiralled

present participle

spiralling

Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.

Questions about spiral

What does spiral mean?

spiral means "a plane curve traced by a point circling about the center but at increasing distances from the center". That is the primary sense; the word has 10 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in spiral?

spiral has 2 syllables: spi-ral. The stress falls on "spi". In IPA it is /ˈspaɪɹəl/.

What is another word for spiral?

Close synonyms include helix, volute, coil, volute, whorl. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is spiral a common word?

spiral is banded "Familiar" — widely understood, used when the subject calls for it. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.