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Whirl vs Swing - What's the difference?

whirl | swing |

In intransitive terms the difference between whirl and swing

is that whirl is to have a sensation of spinning or reeling while swing is to fluctuate or change.

In transitive terms the difference between whirl and swing

is that whirl is to remove or carry quickly with, or as with, a revolving motion; to snatch while swing is in dancing, to turn around in a small circle with one's partner, holding hands or arms.

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

    swing

    English

    (wikipedia swing)

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) swingen, from (etyl) swingan, from (etyl) (compare Scottish Gaelic seang 'thin').

    Verb

  • To rotate about an off-centre fixed point.
  • The plant swung in the breeze.
  • * 1912 , (Edgar Rice Burroughs), (Tarzan of the Apes), Chapter 12
  • With one accord the tribe swung rapidly toward the frightened cries, and there found Terkoz holding an old female by the hair and beating her unmercifully with his great hands.
  • To dance.
  • To ride on a swing.
  • The children laughed as they swung .
  • To participate in the lifestyle; to participate in wife-swapping.
  • To hang from the gallows.
  • (intransitive, cricket, of a ball) to move sideways in its trajectory.
  • To fluctuate or change.
  • It wasn't long before the crowd's mood swung towards restless irritability.
  • To move (an object) backward and forward; to wave.
  • He swung his sword as hard as he could.
  • To change (a numerical result); especially to change the outcome of an election.
  • To make (something) work; especially to afford (something) financially.
  • If it’s not too expensive, I think we can swing it.
  • (music) To play notes that are in pairs by making the first of the pair slightly longer than written (augmentation) and the second, resulting in a bouncy, uneven rhythm.
  • (cricket) (of a bowler) to make the ball move sideways in its trajectory.
  • (transitive, and, intransitive, boxing) To move one's arm in a punching motion.
  • In dancing, to turn around in a small circle with one's partner, holding hands or arms.
  • "to swing''' one's partner", or simply "to '''swing "
  • (engineering) To admit or turn something for the purpose of shaping it; said of a lathe.
  • The lathe can swing a pulley of 12 inches diameter.
  • (carpentry) To put (a door, gate, etc.) on hinges so that it can swing or turn.
  • (nautical) To turn round by action of wind or tide when at anchor.
  • A ship swings with the tide.
    Derived terms
    * come out swinging
    Troponyms
    *(to rotate about an off-centre fixed point) pivot, swivel

    Etymology 2

    From the above verb.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The manner in which something is swung.
  • A line, cord, or other thing suspended and hanging loose, upon which anything may swing.
  • A hanging seat in a children's playground, for acrobats in a circus, or on a porch for relaxing.
  • * , chapter=12
  • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=To Edward […] he was terrible, nerve-inflaming, poisonously asphyxiating. He sat rocking himself in the late Mr. Churchill's swing chair, smoking and twaddling.}}
  • A dance style.
  • (music) The genre of music associated with this dance style.
  • The amount of change towards or away from something.
  • # (politics) In an election, the increase or decrease in the number of votes for opposition parties compared with votes for the incumbent party.
  • The polls showed a wide swing to Labour.
  • (cricket) Sideways movement of the ball as it flies through the air.
  • The diameter that a lathe can cut.
  • In a musical theater production, a performer who understudies several roles.
  • A basic dance step in which a pair link hands and turn round together in a circle.
  • Capacity of a turning lathe, as determined by the diameter of the largest object that can be turned in it.
  • (obsolete) Free course; unrestrained liberty.
  • * (John Dryden)
  • Take thy swing .
  • * Burke
  • To prevent anything which may prove an obstacle to the full swing of his genius.
    Quotations
    * 1937 June 11, Judy Garland, “All God’s Chillun Got Rhythm”, A day at the races , Sam Wood (director), Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer *: All God’s chillun got rhythm. All God's chillun got swing . *: Maybe haven't got money, maybe haven't got shoes. *: All God’s chillun got rhythm for to [sic. ] push away their blues.
    Derived terms
    * swing of things