whirl
n.n. a fast, spinning movement that feels confusing or dizzying. You might feel this when you spin around too many times.
n. a rapid, spinning movement or a state of confusion and activity. Often used to describe the physical sensation of dizziness or the chaotic nature of a situation.
The children ran in a whirl of excitement.
After the long meeting, the office felt like a whirl of activity as everyone rushed to finish their tasks.
The sudden change in direction caused a whirl of confusion among the passengers, many of whom were still recovering from the initial turbulence of the flight.
From Middle English whirlen, contracted from earlier whirvelen, whervelen, possibly from Old English hwyrflian, hweorflian (attested in hwirflung, hwerflung (“change, vicissitude”)), frequentative form of Old English hweorfan (“to turn”), itself from Proto-West Germanic hwerban, from Proto-Germanic hwerbaną (“to turn”); or perhaps from Old Norse hvirfla (“to go round, spin”). Cognate with Dutch wervelen (“to whirl, swirl”), German wirbeln (“to whirl, swirl”), Danish hvirvle (“to whirl”), Swedish virvla (older spelling hvirfla), Albanian vorbull (“a whirl”). Related to whirr and wharve.
From Middle English whirl, wherwille, whorwhil, wervel, from Old English hwirfel, hwyrfel (“whirlpool”), from Proto-West Germanic hwirbil, from Proto-Germanic hwirbilaz, *hwarbilaz (“swirl, whirl, whirlpool”), equivalent to wharve + -el; and also Old Norse hvirfill (“ring, circle, crown”), whence Danish hvirvel (“cowlick”), Dutch werveling (“whirling, vortex”), German Low German Warvel (“whirl, whirlpool”), German Wirbel (“whirl, whirlpool”).