Home UK English pinwheel

Meaning of pinwheel in English:

pinwheel

Pronunciation /ˈpɪnwiːl/

Translate pinwheel into Spanish

noun

North American

  • 1A small firework resembling a Catherine wheel.

    ‘As the first pinwheel of light burst, the sparks seemed to race forward to capture Emily.’
    • ‘As usual, we lashed firecrackers and pyrotechnics to the frame, stuffed a mortar in its mouth, and added a blazing pinwheel for the beast's eye.’
    • ‘We are near the edge of the pinwheel so we move pretty quickly.’
    1. 1.1Something shaped or rotating like a pinwheel.
      ‘In it, two pinwheels of triangles are set inside the curves of a large horizontal S shape.’
      • ‘Roadmap-patterned wallpaper lined the elevator's interior, and an array of pinwheels and movable disk sculptures were laid out on shelves.’
      • ‘They do things that Streb finds real - moves called dominoes, slices, ex-flips, inside-outs, sparkles, pinwheels, sidelines, and slams.’
      • ‘A turkey vulture is a slow pinwheel in the sky, a marker above Cather's prairie.’
      • ‘Ninja Wars: A pretty girl in a kimono runs through a bamboo thicket, flailing her arms around like pinwheels.’
      • ‘I left the cabin and picked up my fishing rod, which Ishmael had festooned with some very sexy lures, including a neon-green pinwheel.’
      • ‘Well, it's now a pinwheel of rain and storms soaking much of the eastern U.S.’
      • ‘The green one has mocha pinwheels, and the red one has nut meringues.’
      • ‘Inserted into the void was a smaller white canvas, on which Grosse used a thick brush to paint kinetic pinwheels of translucent color.’
      • ‘The crisp dynamic shifts and organized flourishes whet your appetite for more of the same, especially during the radiant synth pinwheels of the chorus.’
      • ‘Inside purple and green mist swirled around incessantly in pinwheels.’
      • ‘By holding the pinwheel still, we can examine its various points and notice their distinct characteristics.’
      • ‘One of life's great frustrations is to see a frantic pinwheel of birds beyond the third bar and out of casting reach.’
      • ‘This cookie is a spin on traditional pinwheels, in which plain and chocolate doughs are swirled together.’

verb

[no object]North American

  • Spin or rotate like a pinwheel.

    ‘his car pinwheeled into a barrier’
    • ‘But to visit in the spring or fall, when millions of birds are pinwheeling through the heavens, is to realize that there are other, much older claims here, too.’
    • ‘Threatening or dishonest telegrams, or anonymous notes pushed under the door, set several plots pinwheeling.’
    • ‘She pinwheeled end-over-end and out of sight as I hopped up and down, holding my right foot and grimacing like Oliver Hardy.’
    • ‘There was one TV image that I wish I hadn't seen - of some man jumping off one tower, arms and legs pinwheeling desperately in his last moments.’
    • ‘But he raced forward anyway, feeling his bare feet slap down against the metal, his arms pinwheeling for balance.’
    • ‘Forty minutes later we have the fish pinwheeling to Richard's hands under a leaden sky, McVeigh and his boat ROSGILL hovering in attendance.’
    • ‘He's completely overserved and slack jawed, his eyes are pinwheeling, searching his own field of vision to look at my buddy.’
    • ‘Then, arms pinwheeling, he lost balance and toppled over backwards.’
    • ‘It pinwheeled into the wall, smashing Ronnie's mirror.’
    • ‘He pinwheeled with one arm, then yanked me toward him with the arm he had a hold of.’
    • ‘Just like in the movies, my eyes opened wide, and I pinwheeled my arms (probably in slow motion), and then I crashed to the floor on my elbow.’
    • ‘I was 9 and learning the game from my father and grandfather; I pinwheeled my bat in imitation, and exuded joy every time I picked up my mitt.’
    • ‘Zoe screeched and pinwheeled her arms as if trying to drive away a horde of mosquitoes, knocking his own arm down.’
    • ‘They'll gasp, stagger back, clutch their chests, and pinwheel their arms for balance, all the while looking around for someone to confirm their indignation.’
    • ‘More importantly, it provides a kind of centre of gravity around which the main living volume begins to pinwheel.’
    • ‘Her cookies range from chocolate chip to pinwheel and are always the highlight of any dessert.’
    • ‘When your husband looks into your pinwheeling eyes and asks what you've had to eat today, say, ‘Some toast, I think.’’
    • ‘I apologize for any pinwheeling of eyeballs the post may have provoked.’
    • ‘Yap fell for a few moments, arms pinwheeling madly, then he vanished.’
    • ‘He took a lurching, awkward step forward, his arms pinwheeling for balance.’
    • ‘Also in London, Italian architect Renzo Piano breaks open the normally closed body of the tower, with surface planes that pinwheel out from the body into turning facets.’