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swirl

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swirl

  • /swɜːl/ Australia, UK
  • /swɝl/ US
  • /swøːl/ New Zealand, Wales
  • /swɪɾl/ Scotland
  • /sweːl/
  • /swɛːl/

Rhymes with -ɜː(ɹ)l

Where it comes from

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.

verb swirls · swirling · swirled

  1. ambitransitive To twist or whirl, as an eddy. I swirled my brush around in the paint.
  2. To be arranged in a twist, spiral or whorl.
  3. figuratively, intransitive To circulate. Mr. Cameron had a respite Thursday from the negative chatter swirling around him when he appeared outside 10 Downing Street to denounce the murder a day before of a British soldier on a London street.
  4. dated To mingle interracially.

noun swirls

  1. A whirling eddy. Winston Smith, his chin nuzzled into his breast in an effort to escape the vile wind, slipped quickly through the glass doors of Victory Mansions, though not quickly enough to prevent a swirl of gritty dust from entering along with him.
  2. A twist or coil of something.
  3. The upward rushing of a fish through the water to take the bait.
  4. dated Interracial mingling (e.g. dating, sex, marriage, etc.). She told that white boy she wasn't down with the swirl and to take himself a hike.
  5. Synonym of pinwheel (“food product with spiral layers”). I'm baking some cheese swirls.

    Similar: pinwheel, roll, rollup

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: whirlpool, whirl, convolution, vortex, twiddle, gurge, purl, eddy, twirl, maelstrom, spiralling, shake, stir, flurry, turmoil, turbulence

Translations

Every language

verb to twist or whirl

Españolgirar, rotar, arremolinar, remolinear
日本語巻く, 渦巻く
中文旋动
Françaistourbillonner
Italianovorticare, turbinare

verb to be arranged in a twist, spiral or whorl

Españolarremolinarse, remolinear, remolinearse, remolinar, remolinarse

noun whirling eddy

Españolremolino
한국어소용돌이 soyongdori
日本語渦巻き uzumaki, 渦 uzu
中文漩渦 /漩涡 xuánwō
Portuguêsredemoinho, remoinho
Françaistourbillon, remous
DeutschWirbel
Italianovortice
Русскийводоворо́т vodovorót
العربيةدُوَّامَة duwwāma

noun twist or coil of something

Italianoriccio
Русскийзавито́к zavitók

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MLA

"swirl." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/swirl. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

swirl. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/swirl

Chicago

"swirl." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/swirl.

BibTeX
@misc{swirl_2026,
  title = {swirl},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/swirl},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}