swirl

• POS: Noun, Verb (usu participle), Verb (intransitive)

CIDE DICTIONARY

swirl, v. t. & i. [Akin to Norw. svirla to whirl, freq. of sverra to whirl, Dan. svirre, G. schwirren to whiz, to buzz. √177. See Swarm, n.].

 To whirl, or cause to whirl, as in an eddy.  C. Kingsley.  [1913 Webster]

swirl, n. 

 A whirling motion; an eddy, as of water; a whirl.  Mrs. Browning.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

swirl, v. & n.
--v.intr. & tr. move or flow or carry along with a whirling motion.
--n.
1 a swirling motion of or in water, air, etc.
2 the act of swirling.
3 a twist or curl, esp. as part of a pattern or design.

Derivative

swirly adj.

Etymology

ME (orig. as noun): orig. Sc., perh. of LG or Du. orig.

THESAURUS

swirl

Charybdis, Maelstrom, ado, agitate, agitation, back stream, backflow, backwash, backwater, beat, beat up, bluster, bobbery, boil, boiling, bother, botheration, brouhaha, burst, bustle, centrifugate, centrifuge, churn, churn up, circulate, cirrus, coil, commotion, contort, conturbation, convulse, corkscrew, countercurrent, counterflow, counterflux, crinkle, curl, curlicue, curve, disarrange, discompose, discomposure, disorder, disquiet, disquietude, disturb, disturbance, dizzy round, ebullience, ebullition, eddy, effervescence, embroilment, evolute, excite, excitement, feery-fary, ferment, fermentation, fever, feverishness, fidgetiness, fidgets, fit, flap, flurry, fluster, flutter, flutteration, flutteriness, foment, fret, fume, furl, fuss, fussiness, gulf, gurge, gush, gyrate, gyre, helix, hubbub, hullabaloo, hurly-burly, hurry, hurry-scurry, inquietude, intort, involute, jitters, jumpiness, kink, maelstrom, malaise, meander, moil, nerviness, nervosity, nervousness, paddle, pell-mell, perturb, perturbate, perturbation, pirouette, pother, purl, rat race, reel, refluence, reflux, regurgitation, restlessness, rile, ringlet, ripple, roil, roll, roughen, round, rout, row, ruffle, rumple, scallop, scramble, screw, scroll, seethe, seething, serpentine, shake, shake up, slink, snake, spasm, spin, spiral, spurt, stew, stir, stir up, surge, sweat, swirling, tendril, to-do, trepidation, trepidity, trouble, tumult, tumultuation, turbidity, turbulence, turmoil, turn, twine, twirl, twist, twist and turn, twitter, unease, unquiet, unrest, uproar, upset, volute, volution, vortex, wheel, whip, whip up, whirl, whirligig, whirlpool, whirlwind, whisk, whorl, wind, work up, worm, wring, yeastiness