whir
verb (used without object)
to go, fly, revolve, or otherwise move quickly with a humming or buzzing sound.
whirr
-
a variation of
whir.
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.
It was quiet enough that you could hear a handful of people crying, above the somehow blaring whirr of the escalators.
From BBC ● Apr. 19, 2024
Zhang occasionally tosses in a distant whirr like the kind you hear in sci-fi films denoting an approaching UFO.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 30, 2024
At an unfinished Country Garden residential complex on the outskirts of the northern Chinese metropolis of Tianjin, construction has slowed to a dull whirr and a few idle workers roam a near-empty site.
From Reuters ● Aug. 23, 2023
For years after she arrived in Sweden as a refugee in 1992, the whirr of helicopters made her instinctively want to run for cover.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 14, 2022
It seemed to Harriet that the clatter of the loom and the whirr and thump of the spinning wheel went on day and night, too.
From "Harriet Tubman: Conductor on the Underground Railroad" by Ann Petry
