whirligig

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun

Anything that whirls or spins around, such as a toy top or a merry-go-round.
A device incorporating spinning, wind-driven propellers or pinwheels, used as whimsical outdoor decoration in a garden or on a porch.
Ellipsis of whirligig beetle.
A device for punishing prisoners, comprising a wooden cage that rapidly spins around to induce nausea.

/ˈwɜː.lɪ.ɡɪɡ/ /ˈwɝ.lɪ.ɡɪɡ/ en-us-whirligig.ogg

whirligig whirligigs whirlgig whirlygig

From Middle English whyrlegygge; equivalent to whirl (noun or verb) + gig (“a top”).

yo-yo

whirligig beetle whirligig of time

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

Back to search All on W Russian dictionary Dahl dictionary