whirligig
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English[edit]
Alternative forms[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Middle English whirlegigge; equivalent to whirl (noun or verb) + gig (“a top”).
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
whirligig (plural whirligigs)
- Anything that whirls or spins around, such as a toy top or a merry-go-round.
- A device incorporating spinning, wind-driven propellers or pinwheels, used as whimsical outdoor decoration in a garden or on a porch.
- A whirligig beetle.
- (historical) A device for punishing prisoners, comprising a wooden cage that rapidly spins around to induce nausea.
Quotations[edit]
- c. 1601–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Twelfe Night, or What You Will”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):
- And thus the whirligig of time brings in his revenges.
Translations[edit]
anything that whirls or spins around, such as a toy
See also[edit]
Categories:
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English compound terms
- English 3-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
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- English countable nouns
- English terms with historical senses
- English terms with quotations
- en:Adephagan beetles
- en:Rotation
- en:Torture