WHIRL • DICCIONARIO INGLES.COM • Definition of Whirl

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/wərl/ /hwərl/ Listen

noun

Whirl n.

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

Anything that moves with a whirling motion. "He saw Falmouth under gray, iron skies, and whirls of March dust."

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

(Bot. & Zool.) A whorl. See Whorl.

verb

Whirl v. t. (past & past part. whirled; pres. part. whirling)

To turn round rapidly; to cause to rotate with velocity; to make to revolve. "He whirls his sword around without delay."

To remove or carry quickly with, or as with, a revolving motion; to snatch; to harry. "See, see the chariot, and those rushing wheels, That whirled the prophet up at Chebar flood." "The passionate heart of the poet is whirl'd into folly."

Whirl v. i.

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." "The wooden engine flies and whirls about."

To move hastily or swiftly. "But whirled away to shun his hateful sight."

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Etymology of 'Whirl'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Whirl" Quotes from Famous Books

... and they form what may be thought at first only a bold, rude, Gothic outline. By comparing it with other characters of the same author we shall perceive the absolute truth and identity which is observed in the midst of the giddy whirl and rapid career of events. Macbeth in Shakespeare no more loses his identity of character in the fluctuations of fortune or the storm of passion, than Macbeth in himself would have lost the identity of his person. ...

— Characters of Shakespeare's Plays • William Hazlitt

... water pushing through the entrance to this cavern becomes a whirlpool; then, as it belches forth in a refluent wave, it is hurled into a white column. Watching until the water began to whirl and suck, Oponui sprang from the rocks, dragging his daughter with him. She struggled for a moment, believing that his intention was to drown her. There was a rush and a roar; then, buffeted, breathless, she arose ...

— Myths & Legends of our New Possessions & Protectorate • Charles M. Skinner

... so's opium. And in my experience, most things just get duller and duller, the more familiar they are. I don't begin to have time in my life for the living I want to do, my own self! I can't let my grandmothers and grandfathers come shoving in for another whirl at it. They've had their turn. And my turn isn't a minute too long for me. Your notion looks to me . . . lots of old accepted notions look like that to me . . . like a good big dose of soothing syrup to get people safely past the time in their existences when they might ...

— The Brimming Cup • Dorothy Canfield Fisher

... hot and stifling," said Francis. "There are moments when my brain seems to whirl, and things go round. Did ...

— The King's Esquires - The Jewel of France • George Manville Fenn

... the snow-flakes whirl, and the snow lay like a great lake high around the ship, and drifted over it. I let it hear my voice, that it might know what a storm has to say. Certainly I did my part towards teaching it ...

— What the Moon Saw: and Other Tales • Hans Christian Andersen

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