whir
or whirr
to go, fly, revolve, or otherwise move quickly with a humming or buzzing sound: An electric fan whirred softly in the corner.
to move or transport (a thing, person, etc.) with a whirring sound: The plane whirred them away into the night.
an act or sound of whirring: the whir of wings.
Origin of whir
1Words Nearby whir
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use whir in a sentence
For communities like Brenda’s and David’s, the computational whir of data centers is not merely an annoyance, but a source of mental and physical harm.
Inside the physical footprint of the Cloud | Steven Gonzales Monserrate/The MIT Press Reader | February 14, 2022 | Popular-ScienceHe remembers how his young eyes fixated on the flashing lights of police cars that seemed ever-present, his ears drawn to the whir of police helicopters and sirens.
Thousands of bullets have been fired in this D.C. neighborhood. Fear is part of everyday life. | Peter Hermann, John D. Harden | July 23, 2021 | Washington PostThe whir of the circling NYPD helicopter muffled their chants calling for unity and calling out police brutality.
Protesters Demand Justice For Gurley As Gap Grows Between Cops and NYC | M.L. Nestel | December 28, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTAs we approach the rumble of guns grows louder and alternates with the whir of cannonballs, which begin to attract his attention.
You can almost hear the gears whir: Kagan offers the most liberalism for the longest time at the lowest political cost.
For a few seconds the silence was unbroken save for a whir of a taxicab passing outside.
The Doctor of Pimlico | William Le QueuxBoth had heard the well-remembered whir at the same moment, and bounded away several steps before pausing to look back.
Two Boys in Wyoming | Edward S. EllisSuddenly some birds arose with a great whir of wings, and alighted in a tree.
Left on the Labrador | Dillon WallaceShe heard the whir of a machine, fast and then slow again, near and then at a distance.
The Secret Witness | George GibbsThen, from out of the darkness, came something that moved on a whir of caterpillar treads.
Unwise Child | Gordon Randall Garrett
British Dictionary definitions for whir
whirr
/ (wɜː) /
a prolonged soft swish or buzz, as of a motor working or wings flapping
a bustle or rush
to make or cause to make a whir
Origin of whir
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Browse