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Whisk vs Swirl - What's the difference?

whisk | swirl |

As nouns the difference between whisk and swirl

is that whisk is a quick, light sweeping motion or whisk can be (obsolete) the card game whist while swirl is a whirling eddy.

As verbs the difference between whisk and swirl

is that whisk is to move something with quick light sweeping motions while swirl is (ambitransitive) to twist or whirl, as an eddy.

whisk

English

Etymology 1

(etyl), from (etyl) visk According to] eng. (vist laant fra nord. ) whisk, the English (certainly borrowed from Old Norse) whisk[http://machaut.uchicago.edu/?action=search&word=whisk&resource=Webster's&quicksearch=on Etymology in Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, from (etyl) . Cognate with Danish (m), (etyl) (m), (etyl) (m), (etyl) .

Noun

(en noun)
  • A quick, light sweeping motion.
    • With a quick whisk , she swept the cat from the pantry with her broom.
  • A kitchen utensil, made from stiff wire loops fixed to a handle, used for whipping (or a mechanical device with the same function).
    • He used a whisk to whip up a light and airy souffle.
  • A bunch of twigs or hair etc, used as a brush.
    • Peter dipped the whisk in lather and applied it to his face, so he could start shaving.
  • A small handheld broom with a small (or no) handle.
    • '' I used a whisk to sweep the counter, then a push-broom for the floor.
  • A plane used by coopers for evening chines.
  • A kind of cape, forming part of a woman's dress.
  • * Samuel Pepys
    • My wife in her new lace whisk .
  • (archaic) An impertinent fellow.
    • (Halliwell)

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To move something with quick light sweeping motions.
  • * J. Fletcher
    • He that walks in gray, whisking his riding rod.
  • In cooking, to whip e.g. eggs or cream.
  • To move something rapidly and with no warning.
  • * Walpole
    • I beg she would not impale worms, nor whisk carp out of one element into another.
  • To move lightly and nimbly.
  • *
    • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=1 , passage=The stories did not seem to me to touch life. […] They left me with the impression of a well-delivered stereopticon lecture, with characters about as life-like as the shadows on the screen, and whisking on and off, at the mercy of the operator.}}

    References

    Etymology 2

    Noun

    (-)
  • (obsolete) The card game whist.

    • 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.