English Explanatory Dictionary

twirl

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun

A movement where a person spins round elegantly; a pirouette.
Any rotating movement; a spin.
A little twist of some substance; a swirl.
A prison guard.

verb

To perform a twirl.
To rotate rapidly.
To twist round.
To pitch.

Pronunciation

/twɜːl/ /twɝl/ En-us-twirl.ogg /twøːl/ /twɪɾl/ /tweːl/ /twɛːl/

Word forms

twirl twirls twirling twirled

Etymology

Of Scandinavian origin, akin to Norwegian Nynorsk tvirla, Old High German dweran (German zwirlen, quirlen), Dutch dwarrelen and Icelandic þyrill; all from Proto-Germanic *þwirilaz (“stirring-stick, whisk”), *þweraną (“to stir”). Or, an alteration of tirl (“to twist”), with influence from whirl.

Synonyms

screw twizzle

Derived words

squirl twirl one's thumbs twirler twirl one's moustache

This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.

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