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

Penelope’s feelings spun in such rapid succession she could not even name them; it was like a pinwheel of emotions whirling inside her, faster and faster, until each blended into the next.

From Literature

In seconds I was back at it, arranging little wooden people — meeples, as they’re known — around a pinwheel with numbers at the end of each spoke.

From Los Angeles Times

The ground floor features the father’s cooking space, complete with a glowing fireplace and a bevy of pinwheels.

From Los Angeles Times

These two numbers should agree, and for all the other pinwheels, they do.

From Scientific American

To spin and step and reach as the piano notes pinwheel all around you.

From Literature