whirl

English

Etymology

Old Norse: hvirfla ("to go round, spin"). Cognate to Albanian vorbull ("a whirl"). Related to whirr.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /wɜːl/, X-SAMPA: /w3:l/ or IPA: /ʍɜːl/, X-SAMPA: /W3:l/ (in Scottish English and some English accents)
• (US) enPR: wûrl, IPA: /wɝl/, X-SAMPA: /w3`l/ or enPR: hwûrl, IPA: /ʍɝl/, X-SAMPA: /W3:`l/ (in Scottish English and some English accents)

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Rhymes: -ɜː(r)l

• Homophone: whorl

Verb

whirl (third-person singular simple present whirls, present participle whirling, simple past and past participle whirled)

1. (intransitive) To rotate, revolve, spin or turn rapidly.

   The dancer whirled across the stage, stopped, and whirled around to face the audience.

   • 1900, L. Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

     The house whirled around two or three times and rose slowly through the air. Dorothy felt as if she were going up in a balloon.

2. (intransitive) To have a sensation of spinning or reeling.

   My head is whirling after all that drink.

3. (transitive) To make something or someone whirl.

   The dancer whirled his partner round on her toes.

Translations

To rotate, revolve, spin rapidly

• French : tourbillonner (fr)
• Icelandic: hvirfla (is)

• Norwegian: virvle (no), snurre (no)
• Russian: вертеться (ru) (vertetʹsja), кружиться (ru) (kružitʹsja)
• Swedish: virvla (sv), snurra (sv)

Noun

whirl (plural whirls)

1. An act of whirling.

   She gave the top a whirl and it spun across the floor.

2. Something that whirls.
3. A confused tumult.
4. A rapid series of events

   My life is one social whirl.

5. Dizziness or giddiness.
6. (usually following “give”) A brief experiment or trial.

   OK, let's give it a whirl.

Derived terms

• whirligig
• whirlpool