spiral

«spiral» in Mova's mysticism dictionary: a curve that winds round and round a centre point… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 3 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

noun (a spiral, spirals); adjective (spiral); verb (spiral, spirals, spiralled/spiraled, spiralling/spiraling)

meaning for a pupil

1) A spiral is a curve that winds round and round a centre point, getting further away or closer each time, like the shape of a snail shell. tree →

2) A spiral is also a shape that winds upward like a spring or a corkscrew: «a spiral staircase». tree →

3) (verb) To spiral means to move in a spiral, or to get quickly worse or bigger: «prices spiralled». tree →

4) (figurative) «A downward spiral» is when things keep getting worse. tree →

sense in the lessons

In the mystic school: In note 08 the 6 and the 9 are the same spiral wound in opposite directions: the 6 turns inward, the 9 outward. In the primary lessons: In maths lessons spirals come up in patterns and shapes, and in nature studies in snail shells, sunflower seeds, pine cones and galaxies (our Milky Way is a spiral galaxy). In science, DNA is a double spiral (double helix). In art, pupils draw spirals. In everyday talk «spiral notebook» is a notebook bound with a wire coil. In news, «spiralling costs» means costs going up fast.

examples

• They are the same spiral, wound in opposite directions. (note 08) tree →
• Write a 6 and turn the paper upside down: it is a 9; the note reads them as one spiral wound two ways, the 6 a vortex drawing inward to its centre, the 9 a vortex releasing outward into the world. (lesson 019) tree →
• In the note, a 6 turned upside down is a 9: the same spiral, wound in opposite directions. (lesson 019) tree →
• A snail's shell is a spiral. tree →
• We climbed the spiral staircase to the top of the tower. tree →
• The Milky Way is a spiral galaxy. tree →
• The leaf spiralled down to the ground. tree →
• Sunflower seeds grow in spirals. tree →
• Write it in your spiral notebook. tree →
• Prices spiralled when there was not enough food. tree →
• The staircase was of cast iron, spiral, broad and easy. tree →

note

Plural «spirals». UK spelling «spiralled, spiralling»; US «spiraled, spiraling». A circle comes back to where it started; a spiral does not.

In the corpora

• Phobos is spiralling slowly inwards, and in about 50 million years it will crash into Mars or break into a ring.
• The Milky Way is a barred spiral galaxy, with a bar of stars across its centre and spiral arms curling out from it.
• Galaxies come in main shapes: spirals like ours, round or oval ellipticals, and shapeless irregulars.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «spiral» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.