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thirl

English

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thirl¹

  • /θɝl/ US
  • /θɜːl/ UK

Rhymes with -ɜː(ɹ)l

Where it comes from

From Middle English thirl, thiril, from Old English þyrel (“hole”), from Proto-West Germanic *þurhil, from Proto-Germanic *þurhilą (“hole, opening”), from Proto-Indo-European *tr̥h₂kʷelo- which is *tr̥h₂kʷe + *-lo, from *terh₂-. Related to thrill, drill. By surface analysis, through + -le.

noun thirls · thurl

  1. A hole, an aperture, especially a nostril.
  2. dialectal A low door in a dry-stone wall to allow sheep to pass through; a smoot.
  3. obsolete A short communication between adits in a mine.
  4. obsolete A long adit in a coalpit.

thirl²

  • /θɝl/ US
  • /θɜːl/ UK

Rhymes with -ɜː(ɹ)l

Where it comes from

From Middle English thirlen, thurlen, thorlen, from Old English þȳrlian (“to pierce”), from the noun (see above). Doublet of thrill.

verb thirls · thirling · thirled · thurl

  1. transitive To pierce; to perforate, penetrate, cut through. But yet his hardnesse savde him not against the piercing dart. For hitting right betweene the scales that yeelded in that part Whereas the joynts doe knit the backe, it thirled through the skin, And pierced to his filthy mawe and greedy guts within.
  2. obsolete, transitive To drill or bore; to cut through, as a partition between one working and another.

thirl³

  • /θɝl/ US
  • /θɜːl/ UK

Rhymes with -ɜː(ɹ)l

Where it comes from

Uncertain. Perhaps a blend of throw + hurl.

verb thirls · thirling · thirled

  1. obsolete To throw (a projectile). And many Authours doe in this manner wound the protection of their cause, by over-rashly running against that which they take hold-of, thirling [translating lanceant] such darts at their enemies, that might with much more advantage be cast at them.

thirl⁴

  • /θɝl/ US
  • /θɜːl/ UK

Rhymes with -ɜː(ɹ)l

Where it comes from

Dialectal alteration of thrall.

verb thirls · thirling · thirled · thrill

  1. historical, transitive To legally bind (a tenant) to the use of one's own property as an owner.
  2. broadly To bind; to obligate to use or be associated with. Was everyone nowadays thirled to a formula?

noun thirls · thrill

  1. historical A thrall.

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MLA

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

APA

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

Chicago

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

BibTeX
@misc{thirl_2026,
  title = {thirl},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/thirl},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}