*whir*

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Whirred p. pr. & vb. n. Whirring. ] [ Perhaps of imitative origin; cf. D. hvirre to whirl, and E. hurr, hurry, whirl. &unr_;&unr_;&unr_;. ] To whirl round, or revolve, with a whizzing noise; to fly or more quickly with a buzzing or whizzing sound; to whiz. [ 1913 Webster ]

The partridge bursts away on whirring wings. Beattie. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ See Whir to whiz. ] To hurry a long with a whizzing sound. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

This world to me is like a lasting storm,
Whirring me from my friends. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A buzzing or whizzing sound produced by rapid or whirling motion; as, the whir of a partridge; the whir of a spinning wheel. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Whirled p. pr. & vb. n. Whirling. ] [ OE. whirlen, probably from the Scand.; cf. Icel. & Sw. hvirfla, Dan. hvirvle; akin to D. wervelen, G. wirbeln, freq. of the verb seen in Icel. hverfa to turn. √16. See Wharf, and cf. Warble, Whorl. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. To turn round rapidly; to cause to rotate with velocity; to make to revolve. [ 1913 Webster ]

He whirls his sword around without delay. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To remove or carry quickly with, or as with, a revolving motion; to snatch; to harry. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

See, see the chariot, and those rushing wheels,
That whirled the prophet up at Chebar flood. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

The passionate heart of the poet is whirl'd into folly. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ 1913 Webster ]

1. To be turned round rapidly; to move round with velocity; to revolve or rotate with great speed; to gyrate. “The whirling year vainly my dizzy eyes pursue.” J. H. Newman. [ 1913 Webster ]

The wooden engine flies and whirls about. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To move hastily or swiftly. [ 1913 Webster ]

But whirled away to shun his hateful sight. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. Dan. hvirvel, Sw. hvirfvel, Icel. hvirfill the crown of the head, G. wirbel whirl, crown of the head, D. wervel. See Whirl, v. t. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. A turning with rapidity or velocity; rapid rotation or circumvolution; quick gyration; rapid or confusing motion; as, the whirl of a top; the whirl of a wheel. “In no breathless whirl.” J. H. Newman. [ 1913 Webster ]

The rapid . . . whirl of things here below interrupt not the inviolable rest and calmness of the noble beings above. South. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Anything that moves with a whirling motion. [ 1913 Webster ]

He saw Falmouth under gray, iron skies, and whirls of March dust. Carlyle. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A revolving hook used in twisting, as the hooked spindle of a rope machine, to which the threads to be twisted are attached. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Bot. & Zool.) A whorl. See Whorl. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Something that whirls or turns about in a rapid manner; a whirligig. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Anything moved with a whirl, as preparatory for a blow, or to augment the force of it; -- applied by poets to the cestus of ancient boxers. [ 1913 Webster ]

The whirlbat and the rapid race shall be
Reserved for Caesar. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A whirling blast or wind. [ 1913 Webster ]

A whirl-blast from behind the hill. Wordsworth. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Anat.) (a) The huckle bone. [ Obs. ] (b) The patella, or kneepan. [ Obs. ] Ainsworth. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who, or that which, whirls. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. An open car or chariot. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Of old time coaches were not known in this island, but chariots, or whirlicotes. Stow. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Whirl + gig. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. A child's toy, spun or whirled around like a wheel upon an axis, or like a top. Johnson. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Anything which whirls around, or in which persons or things are whirled about, as a frame with seats or wooden horses. [ 1913 Webster ]

With a whirligig of jubilant mosquitoes spinning about each head. G. W. Cable. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A mediaeval instrument for punishing petty offenders, being a kind of wooden cage turning on a pivot, in which the offender was whirled round with great velocity. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Zool.) Any one of numerous species of beetles belonging to Gyrinus and allied genera. The body is firm, oval or boatlike in form, and usually dark colored with a bronzelike luster. These beetles live mostly on the surface of water, and move about with great celerity in a gyrating, or circular, manner, but they are also able to dive and swim rapidly. The larva is aquatic. Called also weaver, whirlwig, and whirlwig beetle. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. & n. from Whirl, v. t. [ 1913 Webster ]

Whirling table. (a) (Physics) An apparatus provided with one or more revolving disks, with weights, pulleys, and other attachments, for illustrating the phenomena and laws of centrifugal force, and the like. (b) A potter's wheel. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A whirlpool. [ Obs. ] “Raging whirlpits.” Sandys. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ 1913 Webster ]

1. An eddy or vortex of water; a place in a body of water where the water moves round in a circle so as to produce a depression or cavity in the center, into which floating objects may be drawn; any body of water having a more or less circular motion caused by its flowing in an irregular channel, by the coming together of opposing currents, or the like. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A sea monster of the whale kind. [ Obs. ] Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

The Indian Sea breedeth the most and the biggest fishes that are; among which the whales and whirlpools, called “balaenae, ” take up in length as much as four . . . arpents of land. Holland. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. Earwig. ] (Zool.) A whirligig. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. Icel. hvirfilvindr, Sw. hvirfvelvind, Dan. hvirvelvind, G. wirbelwind. See Whirl, and Wind, n. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. A violent windstorm of limited extent, as the tornado, characterized by an inward spiral motion of the air with an upward current in the center; a vortex of air. It usually has a rapid progressive motion. [ 1913 Webster ]

The swift dark whirlwind that uproots the woods.
And drowns the villages. Bryant. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Some meteorologists apply the word whirlwind to the larger rotary storm also, such as cyclones. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Fig.: A body of objects sweeping violently onward. “The whirlwind of hounds and hunters.” Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To whir. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]