whirligig

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“
For each dead man Dravot pours a little milk on the ground and waves his arms like a whirligig, and 'That's all right,' says he.

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Definitions (17)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (4)

  1. noun Any of various spinning toys.
  2. noun A carousel; a merry-go-round.
  3. noun Something that continuously whirls.
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Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (8)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (2)

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Examples (50)

  • When my dear wife Bertha was alive I loved to swing her round, then pass round each lady in the whirligig (as Bertha used to call it to my amusement), as she did the same down the gentlemen's line. —  EQMM,September-October2007
  • I watched her with her partner the squire, turning with their right hands in the middle of the set, then she passed to the gentlemen's side for the whirligig and he to the ladies'. —  EQMM,September-October2007
  • The tree-laden Garden was spinning like a whirligig. —  Suzannes Diary for Nicholas
  • Then the Tartars loaded a corpse onto a catapult, and it came flying over the wall, spinning like a whirligig in midair and landing with a thump! —  TheMagazineofFantasyandScienceFiction,March2005
  • These Are the Vistas (2003), they mixed whirligig originals with oddball covers by the likes of Nirvana and Blondie. —  Boston Phoenix - thePhoenix.com
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This word has been looked up 83 times.

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Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English whirlegigge : whirlen, whirl; see whirl + -gigge, something that rotates (possibly of Scandinavian origin; akin to gig1).

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. Early mod; English whirlygig, whyrlygigge; also whirlgig (in def. 4, with a variant whirlwig); from Middle English whylegyge; from whirl + gig.
 

Pronunciations
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/ˈhwərlɪgɪg/
by American Heritage

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