Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Having a whirling motion; spinning.
  • adjective Suggestive of a whirling motion, as in being excited or confused.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • In a whirl; whirling.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective whirling

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

a- +‎ whirl

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Examples

  • Dick Stephenson made no further protests, his brain awhirl as he raced to the stables.

    A Little Bush Maid 1910

  • These are handmade in Austria from a single piece of knot-free wood you'll pass them on to your kids, and are as beautiful at rest as they are awhirl.

    Cute Co-Workers 2011

  • Rising to see what the commotion was about - having, for reasons of his own, dismissed all his servants for the night - Wilde was confronted by several men dressed as clowns who shouted fragmented lines from Lear's A Book of Nonsense at him, enclosed him in a circle and danced around him until his mind, so he himself says, had been set awhirl with chaos.

    EXCLUSIVE EXCERPT 1/5: The Bookman by Lavie Tidhar 2009

  • He took another sip of (by now cooling) coffee and continued reading, though his mind wasn't in it: his head was awhirl with images of Lucy, and he kept returning to the night before, to the words they spoke to each other, to their kiss like a seal of the future ...

    EXCLUSIVE EXCERPT 4/5: The Bookman by Lavie Tidhar 2009

  • If you are deeply disturbed by the sinister implications, both corporate and gustatory, imagine my shock as I reeled out of the supermarket, my mind awhirl with the grisliest of possibilities, only to come upon this terrible scene at the docks, mere minutes away (click to enlarge):

    The Cannibals of Galway 2009

  • If you are deeply disturbed by the sinister implications, both corporate and gustatory, imagine my shock as I reeled out of the supermarket, my mind awhirl with the grisliest of possibilities, only to come upon this terrible scene at the docks, mere minutes away (click to enlarge):

    July « 2009 « Sentence first 2009

  • Or a syndication of gut awhirl in a shell of mother-of-pearl.

    My House In The Middle Of The Ocean John Olson 2011

  • His mind was already awhirl with ways to bypass the pacifistic Thrall and the crotchety old Cairne and get the Horde what it needed.

    The Shattering Christie Golden 2010

  • She rested her chin on her hand and stared out the window, her mind awhirl.

    Much Ado About Marriage Karen Hawkins 2010

  • His mind was already awhirl with ways to bypass the pacifistic Thrall and the crotchety old Cairne and get the Horde what it needed.

    The Shattering Christie Golden 2010

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