spinward

comparative more spinward · superlative most spinward

1. oftenliteratureIn a rotating reference frame, along the direction of spin.

   It was half-daylight; the shadow of the terminator was coming in from spinward like a black curtain.

   1970 October, Larry Niven, Ringworld, New York, N.Y.: Ballantine Books, →ISBN

   3 more examples

   Edna's language was peppered with the unfamiliar. You found your way around a spinning space habitat by going spinward or antispinward or axisward ...

   2007, Arthur C. Clarke with Stephen Baxter, Firstborn [A Time Odyssey; 3], New York, N.Y.: Del Rey Books; Ballantine Books, →ISBN

   spinward adv. in or toward the direction that something (a space station, galaxy, etc.) is rotating. Also as adj.

   2007, Jeff Prucher, editor, Brave New Words: The Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 215

   "[…] You would fall against the anti-spinward wall and slide down along that wall until you hit the floor ..." / "Whoa, whoa, whoa ..." Lars interrupted. "Anti-spinward? What in the world?" / "Moving in the same direction as the Station's direction of spin is considered spinward. Moving in the direction opposite the spin is considered anti-spinward. You sound like a boy asking what one does with his hands when the rollercoaster car leaves the track."

   2015, Steven Burgauer, Skullcap, Bloomington, Ind.: iUniverse, →ISBN