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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Whirl \Whirl\, noun [Cf. Dan. hvirvel, Sw. hvirfvel, Icel. hvirfill the crown of the head, G. wirbel whirl, crown of the head, D. wervel. See {Whirl}, verb (used with an object)]
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}.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Whirl \Whirl\, verb (used with an object) [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.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Whirl \Whirl\, verb (used without an object)
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.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
whirl
noun
1: confused movement; "he was caught up in a whirl of work"; "a commotion of people fought for the exits" [syn: {commotion}]
2: the shape of something rotating rapidly [syn: {swirl}, {vortex}, {convolution}]
3: a usually brief attempt; "he took a crack at it"; "I gave it a whirl" [syn: {crack}, {fling}, {go}, {pass}, {offer}]
4: the act of rotating rapidly; "he gave the crank a spin"; "it broke off after much twisting" [syn: {spin}, {twirl}, {twist}, {twisting}]
verb
1: turn in a twisting or spinning motion; "The leaves swirled in the autumn wind" [syn: {twirl}, {swirl}, {twiddle}]
2: cause to spin; "spin a coin" [syn: {birl}, {spin}, {twirl}]
3: flow in a circular current, of liquids [syn: {eddy}, {purl}, {whirlpool}, {swirl}]
4: revolve quickly and repeatedly around one's own axis; "The dervishes whirl around and around without getting dizzy" [syn: {spin}, {spin around}, {reel}, {gyrate}]
5: fly around; "The clothes tumbled in the dryer"; "rising smoke whirled in the air" [syn: {tumble}, {whirl around}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
216 Moby Thesaurus words for "whirl": Charybdis, Maelstrom, Sunday drive, ado, advance, agitation, airing, ascend, avert, back, back stream, back up, backflow, backwash, backwater, barrel, bother, botheration, brouhaha, budge, bullet, burst, bustle, centrifugate, centrifuge, change, change place, circle, circuit, circulation, circumvolution, cirrus, clatter, climb, coil, come about, commotion, contort, corkscrew, countercurrent, counterflow, counterflux, crack, crinkle, curl, curlicue, deflect, descend, disturbance, divert, dizzy round, drive, ebb, ebullience, ebullition, eddy, effervescence, embroilment, evolute, feery-fary, ferment, fermentation, fetch about, fidgetiness, fit, flap, fleet, flit, flow, flurry, fluster, flutter, flutteriness, fume, furore, fuss, fussiness, get over, go, go about, go around, go round, go sideways, gulf, gurge, gyrate, gyration, gyre, hassle, heel, helix, hubbub, hullabaloo, hurly-burly, hurry, hurry-scurry, intort, involute, joyride, kink, lift, mad round, maelstrom, meander, merry-go-round, moil, mount, move, move over, pell-mell, perturbation, pickup, pirouette, pivot, pivot about, plunge, pop, pother, progress, purl, put about, rat race, reel, refluence, reflux, regress, regurgitation, restlessness, retrogress, ride, ringlet, rise, roll, rotate, rotation, round, round of pleasure, ruction, ruffle, run, scallop, scramble, screw, scroll, serpentine, sheer, shift, shot, sink, slap, slink, snake, soar, spasm, speed, spin, spiral, spurt, stab, stagger, stave, stew, stir, storm, stream, subside, surge, sweat, swim, swing, swing round, swirl, swirling, swivel, tendril, the dizzy rounds, the rounds, to-do, travel, try, tumult, turbulence, turmoil, turn, turn about, turn around, turn round, turn tail, twine, twirl, twist, twist and turn, unquiet, uproar, veer, veer around, volte-face, volute, volution, vortex, wane, whack, wheel, wheel about, whip, whirligig, whirlpool, whirlwind, whish, whisk, whiz, whorl, wind, worm, wring, yeastiness
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Definitions retrieved from local copies of the freely distributed DICT client/server software and databases. Click here for database copyright information. - KM |