teetotum

• A prompt order given to the engine-room (where the chief engineer stood to the engines) to reverse one engine, was as promptly obeyed, and the little craft spun round like a teetotum . —  Sketches From My Life
• The canoe instantly flew not only to the tail of the eddy, but right across it into the wild surges beyond, where it was all but upset, first to one side then to the other, after which it spun round like a teetotum, and was carried with fearful violence towards one of those rocky ridges which we have described as being alternately covered and uncovered by the foam. —  The Norsemen in the West
• His uncovered head showed a large bald patch, his face was round and of a cherubic serenity I could twist him round like a teetotum!" —  Big Game A Story for Girls
• "Keep clear of the dog, ma'am, or he'll foul your hawse But, he was too late for the warning to be of any use; for, at the same instant, the old lady was whirled violently round and round like a teetotum and fell to the ground, uttering the while a series of wild shrieks, coupled with the smothered exclamation--"My good gracious I thought so!" —  Bob Strong's Holidays Adrift in the Channel
• Having her canvas up, the fraction of time gave her the chance to answer to her helm, and she spun round like a teetotum, seeming almost to wriggle from under the bow of the ship like a live creature. —  The Boy With the U. S. Fisheries

Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the Same Context