Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (Aus.) of a racehorse, to be run subject to illicit practices.

1897

Truth (Sydney) 10 Jan. 5/3: We must whisper to Barnato of a lame ’un that may win / [...] /We must whisper to Barnato when a prad is going to spin.

2. (US) to wager.

1899–1900

C.L. Cullen Tales of the Ex-Tanks 79: I’m going to spin a few chips on him [i.e. a racehorse].

3. (US black) to dance.

1943

D. Burley N.Y. Amsterdam News 9 Oct. 20: The banter had been spinning at the track on fool’s dim.

4. (UK Und.) to search; usu. in spin a drum, to search a house, also a prison cell.

1977		D. Powis Signs of Crime 202: Spin (someone’s drum) To search a house.
1989		(con. 1950s–60s) in G. Tremlett Little Legs 128: They still spun the house, turning everything over.
1995		J. Cameron Vinnie Got Blown Away 11: So they spun him, still never found anything.
2004		Guardian 23 Jan. 6: If they are bold enough to quietly ‘spin’ the bedrooms looking for jewellry and purses, they will leave in a lively way if the occupants wake up.
2007		N. ‘Razor’ Smith Raiders 158: Johnny’s cell was spun, given a routine security search.
2011		J.J. Connolly Viva La Madness 144: While Jesus was chatting [...] members of Sonny’s team [...] spun his room at the Cosmo P.
2021		Central Cee ‘Day in the Life’ 🎵 If the yard I’m in gets spun, I won't come home ’til I'm thirty-three.

5. (UK Und.) to take illegally earned money and pass it through a legitimate business to render it free of criminal taint; to ‘launder’ [? the illegal money is made to ‘turn around’ + play on the spin-dryer in a launderette].

2000		J.J. Connolly Layer Cake 4: All my moneys spun and back in the system clean as a whistle.
2011		J.J. Connolly Viva La Madness 53: Less cash that needs spinning, the better the price.

6. (UK Black) to fire a gun rapidly .

2015

67 ‘Hookahs’ 🎵 Spin, & spin, spin like a yo-yo, make niggas diddy-bop wearing ten boots.