spiral
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 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
- 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.