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Spiral vs Whirl - What's the difference?

spiral | whirl |

As nouns the difference between spiral and whirl

is that spiral is spiral while whirl is an act of whirling.

As a verb whirl is

(label) to rotate, revolve, spin or turn rapidly.

spiral

English

(wikipedia spiral)

Noun

(en noun)
  • (geometry) A curve that is the locus of a point that rotates about a fixed point while continuously increasing its distance from that point.
  • (informal) A helix.
  • A self-sustaining process with a lot of momentum involved, so it is difficult to accelerate or stop it at once.

    • Derived terms

    * death spiral * downward spiral * graveyard spiral * spiral staircase * upward spiral

    Adjective

    (-)
  • Helical, like a spiral

    • Verb

  • To move along the path of a spiral or helix.
    • The falling leaves spiralled down from the tree.
  • (figuratively) To increase continually.
    • Her debts were spiralling out of control.

    External links

    * (commonslite)

    Anagrams

    * ----

    whirl

    English

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (label) To rotate, revolve, spin or turn rapidly.
  • * (John Dryden) (1631-1700)
    • He whirls his sword around without delay.
  • * 1900 , , (The Wonderful Wizard of Oz)
    • The house whirled around two or three times and rose slowly through the air. Dorothy felt as if she were going up in a balloon.
  • (label) To have a sensation of spinning or reeling.
  • (label) To make something or someone whirl.
  • (label) To remove or carry quickly with, or as with, a revolving motion; to snatch.
  • * (John Milton) (1608-1674)
    • See, see the chariot, and those rushing wheels, / That whirled the prophet up at Chebar flood.
  • * (1809-1892)
    • The passionate heart of the poet is whirl'd into folly.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • An act of whirling.
    • She gave the top a whirl and it spun across the floor.
  • Something that whirls.
  • A confused tumult.
  • A rapid series of events
    • My life is one social whirl .
  • Dizziness or giddiness.
  • A brief experiment or trial.
    • OK, let's give it a whirl .

    Derived terms

    * whirligig * whirlpool English terms with homophones