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# spiral

«spiral» in Mova's mysticism dictionary: **a curve that winds round and round a centre point…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 3 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### 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 →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/mysticism/S/spiral/#m1)

2) A spiral is also a shape that winds upward like a spring or a corkscrew: «a spiral staircase». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/mysticism/S/spiral/#m2)

3) (verb) To spiral means to move in a spiral, or to get quickly worse or bigger: «prices spiralled». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/mysticism/S/spiral/#m3)

4) (figurative) «A downward spiral» is when things keep getting worse. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/mysticism/S/spiral/#m4)

### sense in the lessons

In the mystic school: In note 08 the 6 and the 9 are the same spiral wound in opposite directions: the 6 turns inward, the 9 outward. In the primary 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

- They are the same spiral, wound in opposite directions. (note 08) [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/mysticism/S/spiral/#x1)
- Write a 6 and turn the paper upside down: it is a 9; the note reads them as one spiral wound two ways, the 6 a vortex drawing inward to its centre, the 9 a vortex releasing outward into the world. (lesson 019) [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/mysticism/S/spiral/#x2)
- In the note, a 6 turned upside down is a 9: the same spiral, wound in opposite directions. (lesson 019) [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/mysticism/S/spiral/#x3)
- A snail's shell is a spiral. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/mysticism/S/spiral/#x4)
- We climbed the spiral staircase to the top of the tower. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/mysticism/S/spiral/#x5)
- The Milky Way is a spiral galaxy. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/mysticism/S/spiral/#x6)
- The leaf spiralled down to the ground. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/mysticism/S/spiral/#x7)
- Sunflower seeds grow in spirals. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/mysticism/S/spiral/#x8)
- Write it in your spiral notebook. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/mysticism/S/spiral/#x9)
- Prices spiralled when there was not enough food. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/mysticism/S/spiral/#x10)
- The staircase was of cast iron, spiral, broad and easy. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/mysticism/S/spiral/#x11)

### 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.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/space/8-mars/16/)
- [The Milky Way is a barred spiral galaxy, with a bar of stars across its centre and spiral arms curling out from it.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/space/23-the-milky-way/6/)
- [Galaxies come in main shapes: spirals like ours, round or oval ellipticals, and shapeless irregulars.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/space/24-galaxies-and-the-big-bang/8/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «spiral» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/mysticism/S/spiral/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.