Definitions

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

  • intransitive verb To revolve around a fixed point or axis.
  • intransitive verb To move in a spiral or spirallike course. synonym: turn.
  • intransitive verb To oscillate or vary, especially in a repetitious pattern.
  • adjective In rings; coiled or convoluted.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • In botany, curved inward like a crozier; circinate.
  • In zoology, having convolutions like the gyri of the brain; meandrine, as a coral. See cut under brain-coral.
  • To turn round; wheel; rotate; whirl; move round a fixed point. See gyration. Formerly also girate.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • intransitive verb To revolve round a central point; to move spirally about an axis, as a tornado; to revolve.
  • adjective Winding or coiled round; curved into a circle; taking a circular course.

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

  • verb To revolve round a central point; to move spirally about an axis, as a tornado; to revolve.
  • adjective biology Having coils or convolutions

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb revolve quickly and repeatedly around one's own axis
  • verb to wind or move in a spiral course

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Late Latin gȳrāre, gȳrāt-, from Latin gȳrus, circle; see gyre.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

from Ancient Greek γυρός (gyros, "round, curved") through Latin into Middle English to English

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Examples

  • Dlr's present retreat fm 91.92 suggests price wud continue to 'gyrate' nr term established range of 91. 28-92.08 n downside bias is seen for weakness to 91.40, however, only below indicated intra-day low (AUS) wud yield re-test of y'day's 90.97 low.

    FXstreet.com 2010

  • The trade churns out a profit if Darden's shares gyrate up or down over the next 2½ weeks.

    Greek Austerity Vote Deflates VIX Chris Dieterich 2011

  • The economic data generally have been "less stellar" and the 10-year yield is likely to gyrate around 3% mark in the short term, he said.

    Treasurys Fall on Economic Data Min Zeng 2011

  • British band Florence and the Machine perform, with a harp and a guitar and Florence singing some kind of folk number while wearing a long flowing robe thinggummy and standing in a spotlight while dancers pop up on circular pedestals set in the audience, and then begin to gyrate and flap their arms around, then dancing around Florence while the fog machine goes into overdrive until everyone gets the point: It's Druid Disco.

    'The Situation' bids 'Dancing With the Stars' a classy farewell as he's eliminated Lisa de Moraes 2010

  • The men ignore her completely and seem far more interested in each other as they gyrate in suggestive positions.

    Danny Miller: Jane Russell, Right-Wing Republican and Good Ol' Gal (1921-2011) Danny Miller 2011

  • This clever Midwesterner-turned-Californian — whose work has been exhibited at many galleries and the San Jose Museum of Art, the Berkeley Art Museum and the Arizona Museum for Youth — uses salvaged metal, wood and more to make sleek, witty, irresistible pieces that flash, glow and gyrate.

    2009 February 25 « Scavenging 2009

  • This clever Midwesterner-turned-Californian — whose work has been exhibited at many galleries and the San Jose Museum of Art, the Berkeley Art Museum and the Arizona Museum for Youth — uses salvaged metal, wood and more to make sleek, witty, irresistible pieces that flash, glow and gyrate.

    2009 February « Scavenging 2009

  • Asian stock markets, which often react to market movements in the U.S., could fall sharply, bond yields could widen, driving up borrowing costs, and currencies could gyrate, creating losses and uncertainty for Asia's critical export companies.

    Bondholders in Asia Bank on U.S. Debt Agreement Alex Frangos 2011

  • This clever Midwesterner-turned-Californian — whose work has been exhibited at many galleries and the San Jose Museum of Art, the Berkeley Art Museum and the Arizona Museum for Youth — uses salvaged metal, wood and more to make sleek, witty, irresistible pieces that flash, glow and gyrate.

    Found-Art Sculptor Gives Old Saws New Life « Scavenging 2009

  • Nearly 25,000 fans of Brazil and Ghana converged on Craven Cottage to watch a football match but, most of all it seemed, to chant, gyrate and revel.

    Brazil 1-0 Ghana | International friendly match report 2011

Comments

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  • Mistaking my instructions, which within my brain did gyrate,

    I took and bound this promising boy apprentice to a pirate.

    Ruth, The Pirates of Penzance, Gilbert & Sullivan

    August 20, 2008