I. swirl1 /swɜːl $ swɜːrl/
verb1. [intransitive and transitive] to move around quickly in a twisting circular movement, or to make something do this
swirl around/round
Smoke swirled around her.swirl something around/round He swirled the brandy around in his glass. The river had become a swirling torrent.2. [intransitive] if stories or ideas swirl around a place, a lot of people start to talk about them – used especially in news reports
Synonym : circulateswirl around Rumours of a takeover began to swirl around the stock markets. [TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲
II. swirl2 noun [countable][
Date: 1400-1500;
Origin: Probably from the sound of water going around]
1. a swirling movement or amount of something
swirl of a swirl of dust2. a twisting circular pattern
[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲
turn to move around a central or fixed point:
The wheels of the train began to turn.go around (
also go round British English) to turn around a central point.
Go around is a little more informal than
turn and is very common in everyday English:
When the fan goes around, the warm air is pushed back downwards.revolve/rotate to turn around and around a central point.
Rotate and
revolve are more formal than
turn and sound more technical:
The Earth rotates on its axis once every twenty-four hours. The stage revolves at various points during the performance.spin to turn around many times very quickly:
The ice skater began to spin faster and faster.whirl /wɜːl $ wɜːrl/ to spin around extremely quickly, often in a powerful or uncontrolled way:
The blades of the helicopter whirled overhead.twirl (around) to spin around quickly, especially as part of a dance or performance:
The couples were twirling around on the dance floor.swirl (around) to move around quickly in a circular movement, especially when the movement goes outwards or upwards from the center:
Her white skirt swirled around her legs as she danced. The leaves began to swirl around.spiral to move in a continuous curve that gets nearer to or further from its central point as it goes around:
The smoke spiralled toward the ceiling. [TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲