spindizzy

English

Etymology

From spin +‎ dizzy. The science fiction sense was coined by American author James Blish in 1950 for the Cities in Flight series of books (published 1950–1962).

Noun

spindizzy (plural spindizzies)

(games) An engine-powered miniature racing car running on a circular track, tethered by cables to a central pole, popular in the 1940s.
Hypernym: tether car
- 2010 September 24, Robert C. Yeager, “For Tether Car Collectors, Originality Counts Most”, in The New York Times‎^[1]:
  Spindizzies, or tether cars, come in three categories of descending value: original as raced, restored and reproduced. […] The best indicator of a spindizzy’s authenticity is its size, said Eric Zausner of Berkeley, Calif., who has an extensive collection. “Repros are always smaller because they come from second-generation molds.”
- For more quotations using this term, see Citations:spindizzy.
1. (dated) A collector or enthusiast of such miniature cars.
  - 1941 January 1, “Spindizzies Hold Model Auto Race This Afternoon”, in The Arizona Daily Star, volume 100, number 1, Tucson, Ariz.:
    Spindizzies, model auto racing fans to you, are going to have a field day at Safford Junio[r] High School grounds, facing South Fourth avenue, this afternoon.
(science fiction) An anti-gravity propulsion system capable of faster-than-light travel, powered by the hypothetical Blackett effect.
- [2014, Brian Clegg, Final Frontier: The Pioneering Science and Technology of Exploring the Universe, New York, N.Y.: St. Martin's Press, →ISBN, page 26:
  So the twin scientific themes of the first book are the development of antigravity technology called spindizzies that enable whole cities to lift into space, and the production of "anti-agathic" drugs that can extend life indefinitely, necessary for the immense journey times in interstellar space.]
- For more quotations using this term, see Citations:spindizzy.

References

Jesse Sheidlower, editor (2001–2024), “spindizzy, n.”, in Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction.