Meaning of pinwheel in English:

pinwheel

Pronunciation /ˈpɪnwiːl/

Translate pinwheel into Spanish

noun

mainly 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]mainly 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.’