Whirl
Whirl , transitive verb
[Old English whirlen, probably from the Scand.; compare Icelandic & Swedish hvirfla, Danish hvirvle; akin to Dutch wervelen, German wirbeln, freq. of the verb seen in Icelandic hverfa to turn. r16. See Wharf, and compare Warble, Whorl.]
1.
To turn round rapidly; to cause to rotate with velocity; to make to revolve.
He whirls his sword around without delay.
2.
To remove or carry quickly with, or as with, a revolving motion; to snatch; to harry. — Chaucer
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 , intransitive verb
1.
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.
2.
To move hastily or swiftly.
But whirled away to shun his hateful sight.
Whirl , noun
[Compare Danish hvirvel, Swedish hvirfvel, Icelandic hvirfill the crown of the head, German wirbel whirl, crown of the head, Dutch wervel. See Whirl, transitive verb]
1.
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.
2.
Anything that moves with a whirling motion.
He saw Falmouth under gray, iron skies, and whirls of March dust.
3.
A revolving hook used in twisting, as the hooked spindle of a rope machine, to which the threads to be twisted are attached.
4.
(Botany & Zoology) A whorl. See Whorl.