whirl
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
n.a fast and often confusing series of activities or events.
n.a rapid and continuous succession of events or activities that may cause confusion or exhaustion.
Simple“The last week before the wedding was a whirl of appointments and parties.”
In context“Life in the capital was a constant whirl of social engagements and professional obligations that left him little time for reflection.”
- 02 B2 Upper Intermediate
n.a quick attempt or trial of something you have not done before.
n.an informal attempt or trial, typically used in the idiomatic construction 'give it a whirl'.
Simple“I have never tried making bread before, but I will give it a whirl.”
In context“Although she had no experience with graphic design software, she decided to give it a whirl to see if she could create her own logo.”
- 03 B2 Upper Intermediate
n.the action of turning or spinning around very fast.
n.a rapid rotatory or revolving motion.
Simple“The dancer finished her performance with a graceful whirl.”
In context“The leaves were caught in a sudden whirl of wind, dancing across the pavement before settling in the gutter.”
- 04 B2 Upper Intermediate
v.to turn or spin around very quickly.
v.to rotate, revolve, or move in a circle at high speed.
Simple“The children began to whirl around in circles until they felt dizzy.”
In context“Dust clouds whirled behind the car as it sped down the dry country road, obscuring the view for anyone following behind.”
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”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.