whir
Americanverb (used without object)
-
whirs,
present (3rd person singular)
-
whirred,
past participle, past
-
whirring
present participle
verb (used with object)
-
whirs,
present (3rd person singular)
-
whirred,
past participle, past
-
whirring
present participle
noun
noun
-
a prolonged soft swish or buzz, as of a motor working or wings flapping
-
a bustle or rush
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
whirsimple
-
whirssimple
-
have whirredperfect
-
has whirredperfect
-
am whirringprogressive
-
are whirringprogressive
-
is whirringprogressive
-
have been whirringperfect progressive
-
has been whirringperfect progressive
Past
-
whirredsimple
-
had whirredperfect
-
was whirringprogressive
-
were whirringprogressive
-
had been whirringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of whir
1350–1400; Middle English quirre ( Scots ) < Scandinavian; compare Danish hvirre, Norwegian kvirra. See whirl
Explanation
The softly vibrating sound of something moving fast is a whir. The whir of a hummingbird's wings up close sounds a lot like a buzzing insect. Whir is one of those words like buzz, clink, and oink that sound exactly like what they mean; this effect is called onomatopoeia. You can use this one as a noun or a verb, so while your ceiling fan whirs overhead on a hot day, the whir of insects reminds you to close the window screen.
Vocabulary lists containing whir
Lawn Boy
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Shut Up, This Is Serious
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When the World Turned Upside Down
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Over the whine of buzzsaws and the steady whir of sanders, hundreds of Vietnamese workers in a factory outside Ho Chi Minh City hustle to fill orders for high-end furniture.
From Barron's ● Jan. 9, 2026
In Boland's following over, England fell apart in a whir of loose drives.
From BBC ● Nov. 22, 2025
A symphonic mix of an espresso machine’s hiss, a ravenous juicer’s whir and ebullient Spanish welcomed me at my new favorite, Las Olas Cafe.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2025
Outside Los Angeles City Hall, the whir of helicopters overhead was drowned out by a cacophony of bullhorns and fiery chanting.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 3, 2025
The increasing whir of the shuttle’s engine hurts my brain.
From "The Last Cuentista" by Donna Barba Higuera
Machinery whirs loudly as a rare-earth mixture is bathed in hydrochloric acid and gradually separated into pure oxides that can be shipped to customers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 26, 2026
Next, Doc’s Rube Goldberg-ian breakfast contraption whirs to action with burned toast and a glop of overflowing dog food, implying that he and his dog Einstein have themselves been missing for a while.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 30, 2025
The plane’s propeller whirs, and Snoopy’s head swings around, up and down, scanning for any sign of his German foe.
From Salon ● Oct. 30, 2023
Sixteen men sit side by side on the cement floor, damp is seeping through the walls, a single fan whirs behind the cell bars, and there is one toilet behind a low wall.
From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2023
The lights in the refectory dim, a projector whirs, and a chart full of circles appears on the far wall.
From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
The siblings’ all-day play in the backyard took on a spinning, rapturous dimension from the swarms of insects that whirred around and above them.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 17, 2026
Pasta sauces found richness from cannellini beans or chickpeas, whirred until smooth.
From Salon ● Mar. 25, 2026
The machines buzzed and whirred as the cows were carried in a lazy arc to the parlor’s exit, where they were detached from milk hoses and sent on their way.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 26, 2024
Tens of thousands of pounds were donated to help relatives, mountains of flowers and teddy bears were laid in tribute and community groups whirred into action to provide support for those on the ground.
From BBC ● Dec. 11, 2023
Jesper turned the crank faster as the drill bit whirred.
From "Six of Crows" by Leigh Bardugo
Visually, the entire set was stunning, with fast cuts of Nancy Whang pounding on her keyboard, Al Doyle whirring his synthesizer, and Murphy shouting into his microphone, wrapped around his arm.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2026
There, rows of whirring white tanks filled with seawater host creatures like coral, giant clams and clownfish in what are meticulously controlled to resemble natural marine environments.
From Barron's ● Jul. 29, 2026
Rising equity prices have also kept the spending machine whirring when it comes to artificial-intelligence hyperscalers’ capital investments.
From MarketWatch ● May 21, 2026
We watched him operate a vintage letterpress, the mechanisms whirring and clanking like a steam engine.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 2, 2026
No Fawkes the phoenix — no whirring silver contraptions.
From "Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets" by J. K. Rowling
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
