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What is "whirl"

Crossword clues for whirl

whirl
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
whirl
I.verb
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
about
▪ Should the Fanatic start to whirl about anywhere near them they know they are in trouble!
▪ He stopped half way down the passage, whirling about to meet her.
▪ The smaller Chelonian whirled about and kicked him painfully in the ribs.
around
▪ Scooping the cup from the workstation with her good hand, she whirled around and flung its contents into Atrimonides' face.
▪ The house whirled around two or three times and rose slowly through the air.
▪ When he reached the open doorway he booted the parcel into the room and whirled around to slam the door behind him.
▪ Clayt Johnson whirled around, squinted and looked the man up and down.
▪ She felt the room recede sharply then start to whirl around her head.
▪ It astonished me to see him whirl around so.
▪ Cones, like regular lumps on a potters wheel, whirl around and around.
▪ It whirled around to strike at the shadows screaming and dancing on all sides.
round
▪ But as I whirled round I saw that she had already taken off most of her clothes.
▪ He had pointed it at another boy, then whirled round, honed in on Kayla and opened fire.
▪ Some of them were whirling round like dervishes.
▪ I whirled round, looking for the cop.
▪ The man whirled round and for a few seconds the landlord saw his face.
▪ Looking back, we could see the orchestra and everyone swaying and whirling round, and the room lights glittering.
▪ What does she feel about the media mayhem that whirled round her for months last year?
▪ The pair whirled round one another like columns of fluid.
■ NOUN
head
▪ Very sensible, given the gossip that was whirling up around their heads.
▪ Sir, why do you stand thus with a wheel whirling on your head?
▪ She felt the room recede sharply then start to whirl around her head.
▪ He was chanting in his childish voice and whirling something round his head.
▪ When she hunts, she whirls this around her head and releases it as an insect flies by.
▪ I heard the click of a crossbow and a bolt whirled warningly above my head.
▪ Carrie's thoughts were like bits of jigsaw, whirling round in her head.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ Whirl the ingredients in a blender at high speed for a minute.
▪ Dust and sand were whirling around in the air, as the desert wind began to get stronger.
▪ Flies whirled round the piles of sticky sweets.
▪ The blades of the helicopter whirled powerfully overhead.
▪ The room began to whirl before my eyes.
▪ The warriors approached, whirling their swords and spears in the air.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ But as I whirled round I saw that she had already taken off most of her clothes.
▪ Clayt Johnson whirled around, squinted and looked the man up and down.
▪ He had pointed it at another boy, then whirled round, honed in on Kayla and opened fire.
▪ Katena danced away, whirled into the sky, and disappeared.
▪ Pigeons whirled around it like wind tossed rags.
▪ Scooping the cup from the workstation with her good hand, she whirled around and flung its contents into Atrimonides' face.
▪ Sugar maple seeds, like little helicopters, had whirled in the wind and settled under the trees in the fall.
▪ The distaff whirled, twisting the threads.
II.noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADJECTIVE
social
▪ It was all part of the mad social whirl that young women of her age had to endure.
▪ She was quickly caught up in the Southampton social whirl.
▪ She's all for the social whirl of Mayfair or Bond Street, while I like my peace and quiet.
▪ Stewart loved the trips to Avon and the social whirl that dominated his life.
▪ A month of arguing in Florida did no favours to the organisers of the inaugural social whirl.
■ VERB
give
▪ So when you see me overtaking, stop shouting and give it a whirl.
▪ I had learned two, at that point, and was disappointed not to have a chance to give them a whirl.
▪ I intend to remain faithful, simply because I've given infidelity a whirl and it doesn't work for me.
▪ Kathryn Baron gives it a whirl and doesn't look back.
▪ There was also some excitement on the oil pitch, with a number of old stories given another whirl.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
give sth a try/shot/whirl
▪ Are you having trouble fixing the printer? Let me give it a shot.
▪ But on this case, I can not give it a try - that is the point.
▪ He says he thought he'd give it a try, but he got stuck.
▪ Joe gives her the shot twice a week.
▪ Magnus grew fat on brown wholemeal scraps and Gina gave up trying to keep him away.
▪ She had given up trying to read to him, play with him, teach him anything: he could not learn.
▪ Vladimir finally gave up trying to teach me and returned to his sketching.
▪ We wanted into the book badly, and gave it a shot one afternoon.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ a whirl of dust
▪ The recent whirl of legal problems has left him little time for his family.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ It was all part of the mad social whirl that young women of her age had to endure.
▪ Sally lived in a happy whirl marred only by worrying about how far she should go.
▪ The whirl of time, the true life inside him.
▪ The next couple of weeks were spent in a whirl of feverish activity.
▪ The next two days passed in a whirl of activity.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Whirl

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.

Whirl

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.

  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.

Whirl

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.

Related phrases:
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
whirl

c.1300, probably from Old Norse hvirfla "to go round, spin," related to hvirfill "circle, ring, crown," and to Old English hweorfan "to turn" (see wharf). Related: Whirled; whirling. Whirlybird "helicopter" is from 1951.

whirl

early 15c., "flywheel of a spindle," from whirl (v.). The meaning "act of whirling" is recorded from late 15c.; figurative sense of "confused activity" is recorded from 1550s. Colloquial sense of "tentative attempt" is attested from 1884, American English.

Wiktionary
whirl

n. 1 An act of whirling. 2 Something that whirls. 3 A confused tumult. 4 A rapid series of events 5 dizziness or giddiness. 6 (qualifier: usually following “give”) A brief experiment or trial. vb. 1 (label en intransitive) To rotate, revolve, spin or turn rapidly. 2 (label en intransitive) To have a sensation of spinning or reeling. 3 (label en transitive) To make something or someone whirl. 4 (label en transitive) To remove or carry quickly with, or as with, a revolving motion; to snatch.

Related phrases:
WordNet
whirl

  1. n. 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]

whirl

  1. v. 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]

Related phrases:
Wikipedia
Whirl

Whirl may refer to:

  • Whirling, a dance genre.
  • Whirl (Transformers), a character in the Transformers franchise
  • Tilt-A-Whirl, a type of amusement ride
  • Atomic whirl, a symbol of atheism
  • Whirl magazine, a luxury lifestyle magazine in Pittsburgh, PA
  • Whirr, an American rock band that originally formed under the name "Whirl"

See also Whirlpool.

Related phrases:

Usage examples of "whirl".

He seized a fragment of nopal-stuff in his hand, in the hand of his analogue, whirled it up, beat at the sucker, at the fibril.

Biting off an oath, the fellow whirled to face Perrin, baring a good hand of his sword blade.

A movie camera whirled as the men dangled and strangled, their beltless trousers finally dropping off as they struggled, leaving them naked in their death agony.

The wind was moaning in the aerials and whirling the sand outside pretty briskly when they finally heard a long blat from seaward, and Mr.

In the night, long after the sun had gone and the last daylight could not possibly be there, the blizzard was whirling white.

And the town was all alone on the frozen, endless prairie, where snow drifted and winds howled and the whirling blizzard put out the stars and the sun.

Like lightning, Boots whirled his brother around and clamped him tightly in a hammerlock.

He pointed, and Dain whirled around just as another black-armored Believer charged straight at him with brandished sword.

Mules braying in the stables, and seabirds crying out as they whirled above us, but no words, nor did I really expect many.

Isabella, her dark hair whipping around her, whirled and swayed her body sensuously as she dance toward Burr, displaying every seductive curve of her body before his smiling gaze.

This had been painfully excogitated while the snowstorm whirled aboiut the lawn and filled the lanes, this was of the summer night, this of the harvest moon rising like a fire from the tithebarn on the hill.

A passenger hurrying from the expressway must inadvertently have kicked it in the direction of deceleration and now the owner was whirling away from her property.

As Fergus and I ducked under the creeper after Jamie, a large woman in homespun whirled toward us, shoulders hunching as she raised the broken tree limb she clutched in one hand.

She whirled about on the lawn like a dervish, hooting and screeching, her pink mouth open.

Above them, like a broken umbrella in a high wind, the daddy longlegs whirled off, looking for a dark place to hide.