Whirl

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

CIDE DICTIONARY

Whirl, v. t. [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. Wharf, and cf. Warble, Whorl.].

•  To turn round rapidly; to cause to rotate with velocity; to make to revolve.  [1913 Webster]

  "He whirls his sword around without delay."  [1913 Webster]
•  To remove or carry quickly with, or as with, a revolving motion; to snatch; to harry.  Chaucer.  [1913 Webster]

  "See, see the chariot, and those rushing wheels,
  That whirled the prophet up at Chebar flood."  [1913 Webster]

  "The passionate heart of the poet is whirl'd into folly."  [1913 Webster]

Whirl, v. i. 

•  To be turned round rapidly; to move round with velocity; to revolve or rotate with great speed; to gyrate.  J. H. Newman.  [1913 Webster]

  "The wooden engine flies and whirls about."  [1913 Webster]
•  To move hastily or swiftly.  [1913 Webster]

  "But whirled away to shun his hateful sight."  [1913 Webster]

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.].

•  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.  J. H. Newman.  [1913 Webster]

  "The rapid . . . whirl of things here below interrupt not the inviolable rest and calmness of the noble beings above."  [1913 Webster]
•  Anything that moves with a whirling motion.  [1913 Webster]

  "He saw Falmouth under gray, iron skies, and whirls of March dust."  [1913 Webster]
•  A revolving hook used in twisting, as the hooked spindle of a rope machine, to which the threads to be twisted are attached.  [1913 Webster]
•  A whorl. See Whorl.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Whirl, v. & n.
--v.
1 tr. & intr. swing round and round; revolve rapidly.
2 tr. & intr. (foll. by away) convey or go rapidly in a vehicle etc.
3 tr. & intr. send or travel swiftly in an orbit or a curve.
4 intr. a (of the brain, senses, etc.) seem to spin round. b (of thoughts etc.) be confused; follow each other in bewildering succession.
--n.
1 a whirling movement (vanished in a whirl of dust).
2 a state of intense activity (the social whirl).
3 a state of confusion (my mind is in a whirl).
4 colloq. an attempt (give it a whirl).

Idiom

whirling dervish see DERVISH.

Derivative

whirler n. whirlingly adv.

Etymology

ME: (v.) f. ON hvirfla: (n.) f. MLG & MDu. wervel spindle & ON hvirfill circle f. Gmc

THESAURUS

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

ROGET THESAURUS

Whirl

Excitability

N excitability, impetuosity, vehemence, boisterousness, turbulence, impatience, intolerance, nonendurance, irritability, itching, wincing, disquiet, disquietude, restlessness, fidgets, fidgetiness, agitation, trepidation, perturbation, ruffle, hurry, fuss, flurry, fluster, flutter, pother, stew, ferment, whirl, buck fever, hurry-skurry, thrill, state of excitement, fever of excitement, transport, passion, excitement, flush, heat, fever, heat, fire, flame, fume, blood boiling, tumult, effervescence, ebullition, boiling over, whiff, gust, story, tempest, scene, breaking out, burst, fit, paroxysm, explosion, outbreak, outburst, agony, violence, fierceness, rage, fury, furor, furore, desperation, madness, distraction, raving, delirium, phrensy, frenzy, hysterics, intoxication, tearing passion, raging passion, anger, fascination, infatuation, fanaticism, Quixotism, Quixotry, tete montee, excitable, easily excited, in an excitable state, high-strung, irritable, impatient, intolerant, feverish, febrile, hysterical, delirious, mad, moody, maggoty- headed, unquiet, mercurial, electric, galvanic, hasty, hurried, restless, fidgety, fussy, chafing, startlish, mettlesome, high-mettled, skittish, vehement, demonstrative, violent, wild, furious, fierce, fiery, hot-headed, madcap, overzealous, enthusiastic, impassioned, fanatical, rabid, rampant, clamorous, uproarious, turbulent, tempestuous, tumultuary, boisterous, impulsive, impetuous, passionate, uncontrolled, uncontrollable, ungovernable, irrepressible, stanchless, inextinguishable, burning, simmering, volcanic, ready to burst forth, volatile, excited, exciting, Int, pish!, pshaw!, noli me tangere, filled with fury, rapt, inspir'd, maggiore fretta minore atto.

Rotation

N rotation, revolution, spinning, gyration, turning about an axis, turning aound an axis, circulation, roll, circumrotation, circumvolution, circumgyration, volutation, circination, turbination, pirouette, convolution, verticity, whir, whirl, eddy, vortex, whirlpool, gurge, countercurrent, Maelstrom, Charybdis, Ixion, cyclone, tornado, whirlwind, dust devil, spin-out, axis, axis of rotation, swivel, pivot, pivot point, axle, spindle, pin, hinge, pole, arbor, bobbin, mandrel, axle shaft, gymbal, hub, hub of rotation, helix, helical motion, angular momentum, angular velocity, revolutions per minute, RPM, centrifugal force, surge, vertigo, dizzy round, coriolus force, carousel, merry-go-round, Ferris wheel, top, dreidel, teetotum, gyroscope, turntable, lazy suzan, screw, whirligig, rollingstone, water wheel, windmill, wheel, pulley wheel, roulette wheel, potter's wheel, pinwheel, gear, roller, flywheel, jack, caster, centrifuge, ultracentrifuge, bench centrifuge, refrigerated centrifuge, gas centrifuge, microfuge, drill, augur, oil rig, wagon wheel, wheel, tire, tyre, trochilics, whirling dervish, rotating, rotary, rotary, circumrotatory, trochilic, vertiginous, gyratory, vortical, vorticose, head over heels, round and round, like a horse in a mill.

VB rotate, roll along, revolve, spin, turn round, circumvolve, circulate, gyre, gyrate, wheel, whirl, pirouette, twirl, trundle, troll, bowl, roll up, furl, wallow, welter, box the compass, spin like a top, spin like a teetotum, spin out.