pinwheel

American  

[pin-hweel, -weel] / ˈpɪnˌʰwil, -ˌwil /

Or pin wheel

noun

1. a child's toy consisting of a wheel or leaflike curls of paper or plastic loosely attached by a pin to a stick, designed to revolve when blown by or as by the wind.

2. Also called catherine wheel.  a kind of firework supported on a pin which, when ignited, revolves rapidly and gives a dazzling display of light.

3. a wheel having pins at right angles to its rim for engaging the teeth of a gear.

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verb (used without object)

1. to revolve rapidly like a pinwheel.

   Images of the past pinwheeled through his mind.

pinwheel British  

/ ˈpɪnˌwiːl /

noun

1. another name for Catherine wheel

2. a cogwheel whose teeth are formed by small pins projecting either axially or radially from the rim of the wheel

3. Also called (in Britain and certain other countries): windmill.   whirligig.  a toy consisting of plastic or paper vanes attached to a stick in such a manner that they revolve like the sails of a windmill

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Etymology

Origin of pinwheel

First recorded in 1695–1705; pin + wheel

Example Sentences

For the first time our data allowed us to analyze the likely axis of a possible future burst from our pinwheel Wolf-Rayets.

From Scientific American • Aug. 18, 2023

They’re individually portioned, travel well to cookie exchanges and are as varied as a sentimental snickerdoodle or a stylish pistachio pinwheel.

From Seattle Times • Nov. 26, 2022

To watch them all go at it at once feels a bit like sitting inside of a pinwheel in a windstorm, bits of multicolored plastic flipping and whirring erratically across one’s field of vision.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 13, 2022

When the 23-story Frost Tower opened in downtown San Antonio in 2019, the eight-sided pinwheel of glass represented a resurgent decade of downtown development.

From New York Times • Oct. 5, 2021

Everyone stared at her—except for Leo, who had constructed a pinwheel out of aluminum foil taco wrappers and was sticking it into passing wind spirits.

From "The Mark of Athena" by Rick Riordan