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spinning

(Encyclopedia)spinning, the drawing out, twisting, and winding of fibers into a continuous thread or yarn. From antiquity until the Industrial Revolution, spinning was a household industry. The roughly carded fiber...

Hargreaves, James

(Encyclopedia)Hargreaves, James härˈgrēvz [key], 1720?–1778, English engineer. In 1762 he made an unsuccessful attempt to develop a machine for carding, a process preparatory to spinning, and in 1764 he invent...

distaff

(Encyclopedia)distaff: see spinning.

spindle

(Encyclopedia)spindle: see spinning.

combing

(Encyclopedia)combing, process that follows carding in the preparation of fibers for spinning, lays the fibers parallel, and removes noils (short fibers). The modern combing machine is a specialized carding machine...

gyroscope

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Three-frame gyroscope gyroscope jīˈrəskōpˌ [key], symmetrical mass, usually a wheel, mounted so that it can spin about an axis in any direction. When spinning, the gyroscope has special p...

Crompton, Samuel

(Encyclopedia)Crompton, Samuel, 1753–1827, English inventor of the mule spinner, or muslin wheel, an important step in the development of fine cotton spinning. Working as a young man in a spinning mill, he knew t...

Kidderminster

(Encyclopedia)Kidderminster, city (1991 pop. 50,385), Worcestershire, W central England. The city had a prosperous cloth trade from the 14th to 18th cent. Kidderminster carpets have been produced since 1735. Associ...

Bolton

(Encyclopedia)Bolton or Bolton-le-Moors bōlˈtən-lə-mo͝orz [key], metropolitan borough, NW England,...

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