spiral
noun · adjective · verb
Simple meaning
A plane curve traced by a point circling about the center but at increasing distances from the center.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
spyruhlSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈspaɪɹəl
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
geometry
A plane curve traced by a point circling about the center but at increasing distances from the center
geometry
Ornament consisting of a curve on a plane that winds around a center with an increasing distance from the center
geometry
A curve that is the locus of a point that rotates about a fixed point while continuously increasing its distance from that point.
A self-sustaining process with a lot of momentum involved, so it is difficult to accelerate or stop it at once.
informal
A helix.
adjective
Helical, like a spiral.
verb
figurativelyintransitive
To increase continually.
To wind or move in a spiral course
Move in a spiral or zigzag course
Form a spiral
“The path spirals up the mountain.”
intransitive
To move along the path of a spiral or helix.
transitive
To cause something to spiral.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A plane curve traced by a point circling about the center but at increasing distances from the center
Used this way, spiral is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a mathematical use: it is defined precisely and belongs to working with figures and calculations rather than to ordinary conversation.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Clinical and technical
- Usage feel
- Technical and specialized
Where it naturally appears
- Mathematics
- Geometry
- Academic writing
- Education/classroom
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use spiral
- “The path spirals up the mountain.”verb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Increase
Other combinations
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
An oblique bandage in which successive turns overlap preceding turns.
A galaxy having a spiral structure.
A galaxy having a spiral structure.
A screwdriver with a ratchet (so the blade turns in only one direction) and a spiral in the handle (so the blade rotates) with downward pressure on the handle.
A spring that is wound like a spiral.
An episode of deflation in which prices and wages decrease at an increasing rate and currency gains in value.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
A small tropical cephalopod of the genus Spirula having prominent eyes and short arms and a many-chambered shell coiled in a flat spiral.
European orchid having shorter racemes of strongly spiraling snow-white flowers.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.