spin off

verb

To create (something) as a by-product or a secondary derived work.

“a line of merchandise spun off from a TV series”

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Meanings

verbspin off (third-person singular simple present spins off, present participle spinning off, simple past and past participle spun off)

present singular third person spins off · participle present spinning off · participle past spun off · past spun off

  1. transitiveTo create (something) as a by-product or a secondary derived work.

    a line of merchandise spun off from a TV series

    2 more examples

    For example, an OS/2-based data manager might spin off a thread to sort a file or allow two files to be sorted at the same time, one using CPU time while the other is waiting for disk I/O.

    1987, PC Tech Journal, volume 5, page 23

    Halks-Miller’s discovery fired the starting gun on the race to develop a diagnostic blood test. Illumina spun off a new company, Grail, to develop the test, raising more than $2bn from investors including Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos and the Chinese company Tencent.

    2023 May 17, Jamie Smyth, “Quick blood tests to spot cancer: will they help or harm patients?”, in Financial Times

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
spin out

Translations

Finnish spinnata
  • spinnatato create as by-product
Italian derivare, ricadere
  • derivareto create as by-product
  • ricadereto create as by-product
  • scorporareto create as by-product
Polish przekształcać, przekształcić
  • przekształcaćto create as by-product
  • przekształcićto create as by-product
Cite this entry
APA

spin off. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/spin%20off

MLA

“spin off.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/spin%20off. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “spin off,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/spin%20off.

Source: spin off on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.