pirouette

American  

[pir-oo-et] / ˌpɪr uˈɛt /

noun

1. a whirling about on one foot or on the points of the toes, as in ballet dancing.

2. Dressage. a complete turn in which the horse uses its hind legs as a pivot.

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verb (used without object)

pirouetted, pirouetting

1. to perform a pirouette; whirl, as on the toes.

pirouette British  

/ ˌpɪrʊˈɛt /

noun

1. a body spin, esp in dancing, on the toes or the ball of the foot

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verb

1. (intr) to perform a pirouette

Etymology

Origin of pirouette

1700–10; < French: a whirl, top, feminine of Middle French pirouet, equivalent to pirou- (cognate with Italian pirolo, diminutive of piro peg) + -et -et

Example Sentences

But a startup going from iPhone apps to consumer hardware wasn’t so much a pivot as it was a whole entire pirouette—followed by a couple of back flips.

From The Wall Street Journal

Every turn, sweep, and pirouette channels the elements—a dip births a bolt of lightning arcing down from the sky.

From Literature

From morning till night it continued: the choosing of outfits, the practicing of pirouettes, the making of to-do lists.

From Literature

In Hover mode, the joystick provides fine-grained yaw control, allowing the BlackFly to execute its surreal pirouette.

From The Wall Street Journal

Yet, their conversation always pirouettes back to the gap between the real world and the movies.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• angle
• change
• corner
• curve
• departure
• direction
• reversal
• round
• shift
• spin
• spiral
• swing
• trend
• twist
• wind