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whirl

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9 dictionary results for: Whirl

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

whirl

[hwurl, wurl] Pronunciation Key

–verb (used without object)

1.	to turn around, spin, or rotate rapidly: The merry-go-round whirled noisily.

2.	to turn about or aside quickly: He whirled and faced his pursuers.

3.	to move, travel, or be carried rapidly along: She whirled along the freeway in her new car.

4.	to feel as though spinning rapidly; reel as from dizziness: My head began to whirl.

–verb (used with object)

5.	to cause to turn around, spin, or rotate rapidly.

6.	to send, drive, or carry in a circular or curving course.

7.	to drive, send, or carry along with great or dizzying rapidity.

8.	Obsolete. to hurl.

–noun

9.	the act of whirling; rapid rotation or gyration.

10.	a whirling movement; quick turn or swing.

11.	a short drive, run, walk, or the like; spin.

12.	something that whirls; a whirling current or mass.

13.	a rapid round of events, affairs, etc.: a whirl of meetings, conferences, and business lunches.

14.	a state marked by dizziness or a dizzying succession of feelings, thoughts, etc.

15.	an attempt or trial, esp. one undertaken tentatively or experimentally: Even if you don't agree with my plan, won't you give it a whirl?

16.	Machinery. whip (def. 26).

[Origin: 1250–1300; ME whirlen < ON hvirfla to whirl, akin to OE hwyrflung turning, revolving, hwyrfel circuit; see whorl

]

—Related forms

whirler, noun

whirl·ing·ly, adverb

—Synonyms 1. gyrate, pirouette. 1, 5. revolve, twirl, wheel. 9. spin, revolution. 15. try, go, fling, whack.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

whirl   (hwûrl, wûrl) Pronunciation Key
v.   whirled, whirl·ing, whirls

v.   intr.

To revolve rapidly about a center or an axis. See Synonyms at turn.
To rotate or spin rapidly: The dancer whirled across the stage.
To turn rapidly, changing direction; wheel: She whirled around to face him.
To have the sensation of spinning; reel: My head is whirling with data.
To move circularly and rapidly in varied, random directions: The wind whirled across the steppes.

v. tr.

To cause to rotate or turn rapidly: whirl a baton.
To move or drive in a circular or curving course.
To drive at high speed: whirled the motorcycle around the corner.
Obsolete To hurl.

The act of rotating or revolving rapidly.
Something, such as a cloud of dust, that whirls or is whirled.
A state of confusion; tumult.
A swift succession or round of events: the social whirl.
A state of mental confusion or giddiness; dizziness: My head is in a whirl.
Informal A short trip or ride.
Informal A brief or experimental try: Let's give the plan a whirl.

[Middle English whirlen, probably from Old Norse hvirfla.]

whirl'er n.

(Download Now or Buy the Book)
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
whirl (v.)

c.1290, probably from O.N. hvirfla "to go round, spin," related to hvirfill "circle, ring, crown," and to O.E. hweorfan "to turn" (see whir). Whirlpool is attested from 1529, but O.E. had hwyrfepol and wirfelmere; whirlwind is c.1340, probably on model of O.N. hvirfilvindr. Whirligig is from 1440, of various toys. Whirlybird "helicopter" is from 1951.

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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
whirl (n.)

1411, "flywheel of a spindle," from whirl (v.). The meaning "act of whirling" is recorded from c.1480; fig. sense of "confused activity" is recorded from 1552. Colloq. sense of "tentative attempt" is attested from 1884, Amer.Eng.

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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

whirl
noun
1.	confused movement; "he was caught up in a whirl of work"; "a commotion of people fought for the exits"
2.	the shape of something rotating rapidly
3.	a usually brief attempt; "he took a crack at it"; "I gave it a whirl" [syn: crack]
4.	the act of rotating rapidly; "he gave the crank a spin"; "it broke off after much twisting" [syn: spin]
verb
1.	turn in a twisting or spinning motion; "The leaves swirled in the autumn wind" [syn: twirl]
2.	cause to spin; "spin a coin"
3.	flow in a circular current, of liquids [syn: eddy]
4.	revolve quickly and repeatedly around one's own axis; "The dervishes whirl around and around without getting dizzy" [syn: spin]
5.	fly around; "The clothes tumbled in the dryer"; "rising smoke whirled in the air"

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American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms - Cite This Source - Share This

whirl

see give something a whirl.

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Whirl

Whirl\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Whirled; p. pr. & vb. n. Whirling.] [OE. whirlen, probably from the Scand.; cf. Icel. & Sw. hvirfla, Dan. hvirvle; akin to D. wervelen, G. wirbeln, freq. of the verb seen in Icel. hverfa to turn. [root]16. See Wharf, and cf. Warble, Whorl.]

1. To turn round rapidly; to cause to rotate with velocity; to make to revolve.

He whirls his sword around without delay. --Dryden.

2. To remove or carry quickly with, or as with, a revolving motion; to snatch; to harry. --Chaucer.

See, see the chariot, and those rushing wheels, That whirled the prophet up at Chebar flood. --Milton.

The passionate heart of the poet is whirl'd into folly. --Tennyson.

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Whirl

Whirl\, v. i. 1. To be turned round rapidly; to move round with velocity; to revolve or rotate with great speed; to gyrate. "The whirling year vainly my dizzy eyes pursue." --J. H. Newman.

The wooden engine flies and whirls about. --Dryden.

2. To move hastily or swiftly.

But whirled away to shun his hateful sight. --Dryden.

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Whirl

Whirl\, n. [Cf. Dan. hvirvel, Sw. hvirfvel, Icel. hvirfill the crown of the head, G. wirbel whirl, crown of the head, D. wervel. See Whirl, v. t.]

1. A turning with rapidity or velocity; rapid rotation or circumvolution; quick gyration; rapid or confusing motion; as, the whirl of a top; the whirl of a wheel. "In no breathless whirl." --J. H. Newman.

The rapid . . . whirl of things here below interrupt not the inviolable rest and calmness of the noble beings above. --South.

2. Anything that moves with a whirling motion.

He saw Falmouth under gray, iron skies, and whirls of March dust. --Carlyle.

3. A revolving hook used in twisting, as the hooked spindle of a rope machine, to which the threads to be twisted are attached.

4. (Bot. & Zo["o]l.) A whorl. See Whorl.

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