Library / English Dictionary

SWIRL

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

The shape of something rotating rapidly

Synonyms:

convolution; swirl; vortex; whirl

Classified under:

Nouns denoting two and three dimensional shapes

Hypernyms ("swirl" is a kind of...):

round shape (a shape that is curved and without sharp angles)

Derivation:

swirl (flow in a circular current, of liquids)

swirl (turn in a twisting or spinning motion)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Flow in a circular current, of liquids

Synonyms:

eddy; purl; swirl; whirl; whirlpool

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "swirl" is one way to...):

course; feed; flow; run (move along, of liquids)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Derivation:

swirl (the shape of something rotating rapidly)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Turn in a twisting or spinning motion

Example:

The leaves swirled in the autumn wind

Synonyms:

swirl; twiddle; twirl; whirl

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "swirl" is one way to...):

go around; revolve; rotate (turn on or around an axis or a center)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Something is ----ing PP
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

swirl (the shape of something rotating rapidly)

Credits

 Context examples: 

Consequently, the swirls, loops and arcs in this new image trace the structure of the magnetic field in our home galaxy.

(Planck Takes Magnetic Fingerprint of Our Galaxy, JPL/NASA)

This creates the distinctive swirls of darker and lighter material that are so prominent they can be seen from Earth.

(NASA Mission Reveals Origins of Moon's 'Sunburn', NASA)

This method revealed a complex exoplanetary atmosphere with clouds of iron and silicates swirling in a planet-wide storm.

(GRAVITY instrument breaks new ground in exoplanet imaging, ESO)

Most of the gas escapes, but some is pulled into a disc swirling into the star at a rate of 3000 tonnes per second.

(First Giant Planet around White Dwarf Found, ESO)

In this perpetual choreography, Naiad swirls around the ice giant every seven hours, while Thalassa, on the outside track, takes seven and a half hours.

(NASA Finds Neptune Moons Locked in 'Dance of Avoidance', NASA)

Certainly a grey mist swirled before my eyes, and when it cleared I found my collar-ends undone and the tingling after-taste of brandy upon my lips.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Once and twice his gasping face and clutching fingers broke up through the still green water, sweeping outwards in the swirl of the current.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Buck had sprung in on the instant; and at the end of three hundred yards, amid a mad swirl of water, he overhauled Thornton.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

Before the yellow balls popped up, volunteers had already noticed green bubbles with red centers, populating a landscape of swirling gas and dust.

(Citizen Scientists Discover Yellow "Space Balls", NASA)

Also, thanks to a twelfth house packed with planets, you will be quite prescient about events that are swirling around you.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)