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Swirl vs Whir - What's the difference?

swirl | whir |

As nouns the difference between swirl and whir

is that swirl is a whirling eddy while whir is an alternative spelling of lang=en.

As verbs the difference between swirl and whir

is that swirl is to twist or whirl, as an eddy while whir is an alternative spelling of lang=en.

swirl

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • A whirling eddy.
  • A twist or coil of something.
  • Derived terms

    * (l)

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (ambitransitive) To twist or whirl, as an eddy.
  • I swirled my brush around in the paint.
  • * Charles Kingsley
  • The river swirled along.
  • * {{quote-news
  • , year=2012 , date=May 13 , author=Alistair Magowan , title=Sunderland 0-1 Man Utd , work=BBC Sport citation , page= , passage=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.}}
  • To be arranged in a twist, spiral or whorl.
  • (figuratively) to circulate
  • * 2013 May 23, , " British Leader’s Liberal Turn Sets Off a Rebellion in His Party," 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.

    whir

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • *1909 , (William Hope Hodgson), (The Ghost Pirates)
  • *:Suddenly, the time-keeper struck three bells, and the deeper notes of the bell forrard, answered them. I gave a start. It seemed to me that they had been struck close to my elbow. There was something unaccountably strange in the air that night. Then, even as the Second Mate answered the look-out's "All's well," there came the sharp whir and rattle of running gear, on the port side of the mainmast.
  • Verb

    (en-verb)