spinner

Everyday

1. A spinner is a thing that spins, like a game spinner with a pointer that shows a number or colour. tree →
2. In cricket, a spinner is a bowler who makes the ball spin. tree →
3. A spinner is a person who spins wool or thread. tree →
4. A fidget spinner is a small toy that spins on your finger. tree →

In the lessons

In maths lessons spinners are used to learn probability: on a spinner with 4 equal parts, each colour has a 1 in 4 chance. In board games a spinner replaces dice. In sport (UK, Australia, NZ, Ireland), cricket spinners bowl slow, turning balls. Phrases: «spin the spinner», «fidget spinner», «leg spinner».

Examples

• Spin the spinner to see how many spaces to move. tree →
• The spinner landed on red three times. tree →
• On a spinner with 6 equal parts, the chance of blue is 1 in 6. tree →
• Australia's spinner took five wickets. tree →
• My fidget spinner whirls for a minute. tree →
• In the old days, spinners made thread from wool. tree →
• ‘Why didn’t you come?’ he asked the pretty spinner. tree →

Note

Countable: spinner, spinners; double «n». In probability: the chance of a part = its size ÷ the whole. If the parts are not equal, the bigger part is more likely.