swirl

English

A swirl in water

Etymology

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.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /swɜːl/　

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /swɜɹl/
• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)l

Verb

swirl (third-person singular simple present swirls, present participle swirling, simple past and past participle swirled)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To twist or whirl, as an eddy.

   I swirled my brush around in the paint.

   • 1857, Charles Kingsley, “(please specify the page)”, in Two Years Ago, volumes (please specify |volume=I to III), Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Macmillan and Co., →OCLC:

     The river swirled along.

   • 2012 May 13, Alistair Magowan, “Sunderland 0-1 Man Utd”, in BBC Sport‎:

     The contest was a lot more even in the second half, as the wind swirled around the Stadium of Light, but it took Craig Gardner's superb block to prevent Young getting on the scoresheet.

2. To be arranged in a twist, spiral or whorl.
3. (figuratively) To circulate.
   • 2013 May 23, Sarah Lyall, “British Leader’s Liberal Turn Sets Off a Rebellion in His Party”, in New York Times, retrieved 29 May 2013:

     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. (African-American Vernacular, dated) To mingle interracially.

Derived terms

• swirler

Translations

to twist or whirl

Arabic: please add this translation if you can Bulgarian: завихрям се (zavihrjam se) Chinese: Mandarin: 旋动 (zh) Danish: hvirvle Esperanto: kirliĝi Estonian: keerlema Finnish: pyörteillä, kieppua (fi) French: tourbillonner (fr) Ido: please add this translation if you can Italian: vorticare, turbinare (it) Japanese: 巻く (ja), 渦巻く (ja) Khmer: កួច (km) (kuəch) Maori: māwe, māue, whirowhiro, kōripo, miro, kōmingo, pioi, pīoioi Spanish: girar (es), rotar (es) Zazaki: têvden

to be arranged in a twist, spiral or whorl

Esperanto: please add this translation if you can Finnish: kiertyä (fi) Ido: please add this translation if you can Khmer: បង្វិល (km) (bɑngvɨl) Zazaki: tahnen

Noun

swirl (plural swirls)

1. A whirling eddy.
2. A twist or coil of something.
3. (fishing) The upward rushing of a fish through the water to take the bait.
4. (African-American Vernacular, 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.

Derived terms

• preswirl
• swirl flap
• swirly

Translations

whirling eddy

Arabic: دُوَّامَة f (duwwāma) Bulgarian: водовъртеж (bg) m (vodovǎrtež) Catalan: remolí (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 漩渦／漩涡 (zh) (xuánwō) Danish: hvirvel c Dutch: draaikolk (nl) Estonian: keeris Finnish: pyörre (fi) French: tourbillon (fr) m, remous (fr) m or m pl Galician: remuíño (gl) m, rodopío m, sorbedoiro m German: Wirbel (de) m Hungarian: örvény (hu) Ido: vortico (io) Italian: vortice (it) m Japanese: 渦巻き (うずまき, uzumaki), 渦 (ja) (うず, uzu) Korean: 소용돌이 (ko) (soyongdori) Maori: kōriporipo Portuguese: redemoinho (pt) m, remoinho (pt) m Russian: водоворо́т (ru) m (vodovorót) Spanish: remolino (es) Walloon: toubion (wa) m, neyisse m (water)

twist or coil of something

Bulgarian: витка f (vitka) Finnish: kierre (fi) Italian: riccio (it) m Russian: завито́к (ru) m (zavitók)