a system of means and activities whereby a social institution functions; "the complex machinery of negotiation"; "the machinery of command labored and brought forth an order"
any of various rotating shafts that serve as axes for larger rotating parts
(biology) tiny fibers that are seen in cell division; the fibers radiate from two poles and meet at the equator in the middle; "chromosomes are distributed by spindles in mitosis and meiosis"
to wind or move in a spiral course; "the muscles and nerves of his fine drawn body were coiling for action"; "black smoke coiling up into the sky"; "the young people gyrated on the dance floor"