whirl
verb · noun
Simple meaning
To rotate, revolve, spin or turn rapidly.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
wurlIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈwɝl
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
transitive
To make something or someone whirl.
intransitive
To rotate, revolve, spin or turn rapidly.
Cause to spin
intransitive
To have a sensation of spinning or reeling.
transitive
To remove or carry quickly with, or as with, a revolving motion; to snatch.
noun
An act of whirling.
The act of rotating rapidly
Confused movement
“He was caught up in a whirl of work.”
A confused tumult.
A rapid series of events.
informalusually following "give"
A brief experiment or trial.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Typical Use
- Primarily written
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Word Aura is being prepared for this meaning.
More ways to use whirl
- “The dervishes whirl around and around without getting dizzy.”verb
- “He was caught up in a whirl of work.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Similar Words, What’s the Difference?
Close in meaning, but not always interchangeable.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
The act of rotating in a circle or spiral.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A dervish whose actions include ecstatic dancing and whirling.
Fly around.
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Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
A more or less vertical column of air whirling around itself as it moves over the surface of the Earth.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: whirling
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.