swirl
v.v. to move quickly in a circle. You use this to describe liquids, smoke, or patterns that twist around.
v. to move in a twisting or spiralling pattern. Often describes the motion of fluids, gases, or visual motifs.
The cream begins to swirl in the coffee.
Autumn leaves swirl around the park as the wind picks up speed before the storm.
Mist began to swirl around the mountain peaks, obscuring the path and forcing the hikers to rely entirely on their compasses for navigation.
From Middle English swirlen (“to eddy, swirl”), probably from Old Norse *svirla (“to swirl”), a frequentative form of Old Norse sverra (“to swing, twirl”). Cognate with Scots swirl, sworl (“to eddy, swirl”), Norwegian Nynorsk svirla (“to whirl around; swirl”), Swedish sorla (“to murmur, buzz”), Dutch zwirrelen (“to swirl”). Compare also West Frisian swiere (“to reel, whirl”), Dutch zwieren (“to reel, swing around”), German Low German swirren (“to whizz, whirl or buzz around”), German schwirren (“to whirr, whizz, buzz”), Swedish svirra (“to whirr about, buzz, hum”), Danish svirre (“to whizz, whirr”). Related to English swarm.
Often used intransitively, but can be transitive when an agent causes the motion ('she swirled the wine').