whirl
Americanverb (used without object)
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whirls,
present (3rd person singular)
-
whirled,
past participle, past
-
whirling
present participle
-
to turn around, spin, or rotate rapidly.
The merry-go-round whirled noisily.
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to turn about or aside quickly.
He whirled and faced his pursuers.
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to move, travel, or be carried rapidly along.
She whirled along the freeway in her new car.
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to feel as though spinning rapidly; reel as from dizziness.
My head began to whirl.
verb (used with object)
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whirls,
present (3rd person singular)
-
whirled,
past participle, past
-
whirling
present participle
noun
-
whirls
plural
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the act of whirling; rapid rotation or gyration.
- Synonyms:
- revolution, spin
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a whirling movement; quick turn or swing.
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a short drive, run, walk, or the like; spin.
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something that whirls; a whirling current or mass.
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a rapid round of events, affairs, etc..
a whirl of meetings, conferences, and business lunches.
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a state marked by dizziness or a dizzying succession of feelings, thoughts, etc.
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an attempt or trial, especially one undertaken tentatively or experimentally.
Even if you don't agree with my plan, won't you give it a whirl?
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Machinery. whip.
verb
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to spin, turn, or revolve or cause to spin, turn, or revolve
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(intr) to turn around or away rapidly
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(intr) to have a spinning sensation, as from dizziness, etc
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to move or drive or be moved or driven at high speed
noun
-
the act or an instance of whirling; swift rotation or a rapid whirling movement
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a condition of confusion or giddiness
her accident left me in a whirl
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a swift round, as of events, meetings, etc
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a tumult; stir
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informal a brief trip, dance, etc
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informal to attempt or give a trial to something
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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whirlernoun
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outwhirlverb (used with object)
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unwhirledadjective
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whirlingadjective
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whirlinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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whirlsimple
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whirlssimple
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have whirledperfect
-
has whirledperfect
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am whirlingprogressive
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are whirlingprogressive
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is whirlingprogressive
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have been whirlingperfect progressive
-
has been whirlingperfect progressive
Past
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whirledsimple
-
had whirledperfect
-
was whirlingprogressive
-
were whirlingprogressive
-
had been whirlingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of whirl
1250–1300; Middle English whirlen < Old Norse hvirfla to whirl, akin to Old English hwyrflung turning, revolving, hwyrfel circuit; see whorl
Explanation
A whirl is a quick spin, and when something whirls, it rotates fast. You can also use it to mean "a try." Hang-gliding? Snake-charming? "Sure," you say. "I'll give it a whirl." Both whirl and spin are words that mean "turn in circles" but that have also come to mean trying something briefly––you might take a car for a spin or take a turn hiking in the Himalayas. All imply an attitude so free-wheeling, so easy, so devil-may-care that it might make your head spin. Or whirl.
Vocabulary lists containing whirl
English Words Derived from Old Norse
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"There Will Come Soft Rains" by Ray Bradbury (1950)
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Beowulf vocabulary
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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:
As a result, the fire whirl consumed oil more rapidly while producing significantly less pollution.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 5, 2026
But succumbing to the siren song of salt, I left my packed lunch at home to give it a whirl and find out what regularly eating too much salt is doing to our health.
From BBC ● May 15, 2026
Although quite a few movies have taken place against the whirl of the Cannes Film Festival, only a handful have been shot within sanctioned festival spaces — often because of artistic, logistical and financial constraints.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 12, 2026
In Ada Louise Huxtable’s architecture writing, buildings whirl off their footings and built interiors entice us to dance.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 24, 2026
I whirl around and see Sneaky standing there with a smirk on his face.
From "Isaiah Dunn Is My Hero" by Kelly J. Baptist
The team envisions a future in which portable systems could be deployed directly over burning oil spills to intentionally generate fire whirls on demand.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 5, 2026
"Our goal is to harness the chaotic nature of fire whirls as a powerful, precise restoration tool, to protect coastlines, marine ecosystems and the environment as a whole."
From Science Daily ● Jun. 5, 2026
A better understanding of how fire whirls form and behave could help engineers develop more efficient combustion systems and improve efforts to predict and manage wildfires.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 5, 2026
He stamps his feet, whirls his arms and screams at whichever referee is unlucky enough to be within earshot.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 3, 2026
My mind whirls with information, attempting to process all of it and getting jumbled in the middle each time.
From "Legend" by Marie Lu
"When I left, I left with nothing," he told AFP, as waiters whirled past carrying steaming plates of traditional Syrian fare.
From Barron's ● Mar. 2, 2026
When Audrey Flanagan saw the last ball land softly on the opposite side of the net, she whirled around and hugged her partner Giselle Yau, partly in joy and partly in relief.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 27, 2024
Faint noises from boat engines whirled in the air.
From New York Times ● Mar. 30, 2024
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Hurricane Lee whirled through open waters on Thursday as forecasters warned it could become the first Category 5 storm of the Atlantic season.
From Washington Times ● Sep. 7, 2023
She looked up the block, then whirled the other way.
From "Caterpillar Summer" by Gillian McDunn
But under million-dollar luxury apartments chilled by whirling air conditioners, tenants in one of Seoul's last shanty towns suffer headaches in the savage heat.
From Barron's ● Aug. 4, 2026
Distressing images thunder into her head uninvited, whirling around and around until she feels like she is drowning in them.
From BBC ● Apr. 29, 2026
Jareth peeks at her from between the masked dancers whirling around her, hiding and seeking, smiling gently, for once, as “As the World Falls Down” lilts behind the action.
From Salon ● Jan. 24, 2026
I loved watching the fallen leaves billow up from the road in great whirling circles as I drove by.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 16, 2026
In my mind I saw her in a silk ball gown, smiling up at me as I held her, and us circling and whirling.
From "Cold Sassy Tree" by Olive Ann Burns
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.
