pinwheeling

[pin-hwee-ling, -wee-]

noun

U.S. Nautical.

1. the act of turning a multiple-screw ship within a minimum radius by having some engines going forward and others going in reverse.

Word History and Origins

Origin of pinwheeling¹

pinwheel + -ing ¹

Example Sentences

The Crab Nebula features a neutron star at its center that has formed into a 12-mile-wide pulsar pinwheeling electromagnetic radiation across the cosmos.

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He arched his back, arms pinwheeling.

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The man and his car were pinwheeling down a flooded river before he was lifted to safety by a helicopter.

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San Francisco’s Brett Wisely lost his bat while hitting a third-inning double play, sending it pinwheeling into the Reds dugout, where it disappeared into the opening to the tunnel leading to the clubhouse.

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Ricky Castro, a meteorologist in the NWS’ Chicago office in suburban Romeoville, said a storm system was pinwheeling over the area rather than moving east, giving it time to pull moisture from the atmosphere and leading to heavy rainfall.

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