whirl

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“
The health, the happiness, and the future of those that are in this whirl are affected vitally by what she is and does.

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Definitions (45)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (16)

  1. intransitive verb To revolve rapidly about a center or an axis. See Synonyms at turn.
  2. intransitive verb To rotate or spin rapidly: The dancer whirled across the stage.
  3. intransitive verb To turn rapidly, changing direction; wheel: She whirled around to face him.
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Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (17)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (3)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (9)

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Examples (50)

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This word has been looked up 121 times.

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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

swirl ·  tumult ·  flurry ·  whirlwind ·  rush ·  stir ·  roar ·  din ·  bustle ·  flutter ·  vortex ·  throb

Used in the same contextWord Family

whirl:   whirled ·  whirling
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English whirlen, probably from Old Norse hvirfla.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. Formerly also wherl, whurl; from Middle English whirlen, whwirllen, wirlen, contr. from whervelen = Middle Dutch wervelen, whirl. = German wirbeln, whirl, = Icelandic hvirfla = Swedish hvirfla = Danish hvirvle, whirl; freq. of the verb represented by Anglo-Saxon hweorfan, etc., turn: see wherve, and cf. warble. The English verb is perhaps due to the Scandinavian; it depends in part on the noun.
  2. from Middle English whirl (in comp.) = Middle Dutch wervel, worvel, a whirl, peg, a spinning-wheel, = Old High German wirbil, wirfil, a whirlwind, Middle High German G. wirbel, a whirl, the crown of the head, = Icelandic hvirfill, a circle, ring, the crown of the head: see whirl, v., and cf. wharl, whorl.
 

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/hwərl/
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