Spun

ppl. a. [Pa. pple. of SPIN v.]

  1.  That has undergone the process of spinning; formed, fabricated or prepared by spinning: a. Of wool, silk, or other material. (Cf. SPUN-YARN.)

  Also in earlier use as the second element in combs., as evil-, ill-spun (see those words).

1486.  Bk. St. Albans, Her., f iij b. For as mych as weueris vse sich fusillys made of sponnyn woll.

1570.  Levins, Manip., 188. Spunne, filatus.

1608.  Willet, Hexapla Exod., 575. Women did spinne with their hands and brought the spunne worke.

1759.  Phil. Trans., LI. 390. The stockings … were wove of carded and spun silk. Ibid. (1779), LXX. 51. Long filaments of a vitrified matter like spun-glass.

1842.  Penny Cycl., XXIV. 401/1. Two or more yarns, or simple spun threads, firmly united together by twisting.

1868.  Rep. U.S. Commissioner Agric. (1869), 291. The Murray mill … will be employed in weaving broad goods of net warps and ‘spun’ fillings.

1875.  Knight, Dict. Mech., 2292/2. Spun-silk, a cheap article produced from short-fibered and waste silk, in contradistinction to the long fibers wound from the cocoon and thrown.

  Comb.  1862.  Catal. Internat. Exhib., Brit., II. No. 3900, Velvet and plush, made from spun silk waste.

1887.  Encycl. Brit., XXII. 66/1. The spun-silk industry has chiefly developed in the Yorkshire and Lancashire textile centres.

  b.  Spun gold, silver, a silk thread wound with gold, silver-gilt, or silver wire.

1728.  Chambers, Cycl., Gold Thread, or Spun Gold, is the flatted Gold wrapp’d, or laid over a Thread of Silk, by twisting it with a Wheel, and Iron Bobins.

1875.  Knight, Dict. Mech., 2292/2.

  6.  Of butter or sugar: Drawn out or worked up into a thread-like form, esp. for ornamenting confectionery or other dishes.

1834.  Ht. Martineau, Farrers, ii. 20. A yellow lamb of spun butter.

1846.  Soyer, Cookery, 549. You have previously formed some ropes of spun sugar.

1861.  Geo. Eliot, Silas M., iii. Spun butter in all its freshness.

1872.  O. W. Holmes, Poet Breakf.-t., iv. If you don’t leave your spun-sugar confectionery business.

  d.  ellipt. Spun silk or yarn.

1868.  Rep. U. S. Commissioner Agric. (1869), 290. 60,000 pounds of thrown silk, 60,000 pounds of ‘patent spun,’ 100,000 pieces of belt ribbons [etc.].

1892.  Daily News, 24 Sept., 2/6. Yarns, no improvement yet noted in position of dry spuns, wet spuns are in pretty good demand.

  2.  With out. Unduly prolonged or protracted.

1879.  Grove’s Dict. Mus., I. 645/2. We can pardon a few awkward or tedious phrases, a few spun-out passages.