Home British & World English twirl

Definition of twirl in English:

twirl

verb

[no object]

  • 1Spin quickly and lightly round, especially repeatedly.

    ‘she twirled in delight to show off her new dress’
    • ‘Obviously a boy who appreciates a big stage when he sees one, Jack danced and twirled and spun with abandon, much to the delight of the photographers.’
    • ‘From time to time, Russian dancers clad in national costume would pop up to dance between the tables, somehow reminiscent of a doll twirling round and round inside a music box.’
    • ‘She looked absolutely radiant with joy in her period dress, spinning and twirling on the floor.’
    • ‘She glided over the dance steps smoothly, twirling quickly.’
    • ‘I ran through the rain, twirling, spinning, skipping and feeling completely safe in the world.’
    • ‘Alex jumped a foot forward suddenly, twirling around just as quickly and landing in a defensive stance.’
    • ‘Dancing and twirling sadly, spinning and swaying softly, she made this her dance of hope.’
    • ‘Soon she was twirling and dancing so quickly that it was hard for Adrianna's eyes to keep up.’
    • ‘Her face was drenched with sweat from twirling and spinning and leaping and jumping.’
    • ‘I quickly twirled back around to face my other three enemies.’
    • ‘The magical girl twirled and spun through the air with a natural grace, which she had achieved after only a day of intense practice.’
    • ‘Miranda leaped and ran, spun and twirled, flew and soared to the sound of Mario's violin.’
    • ‘Red and purple hangings hung from gold walls, and the dancers twirled round and round.’
    • ‘With two hands she sipped the warm, filling chocolate and watched the heavy snowdrops from the clouds twirl down quickly to the ground.’
    • ‘I twirl and I spin and I stick one leg out of the water and pretend I am really graceful.’
    • ‘She twirled in front of the mirror and watched the skirt flare out.’
    • ‘Flower petals danced across the scene, and twirled through the air.’
    • ‘Leaves twirled through the air, but there was no breeze.’
    • ‘We jumped around and around, hands linked as we twirled around the room.’
    • ‘I twirled on my toes, trying to imitate a ballerina.’
    spin, spin round, pirouette, whirl, turn, turn round, wheel, gyrate, pivot, swivel
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    1. 1.1with object Cause to rotate.
      ‘she twirled her fork in the pasta’
      • ‘‘I am,’ said Jacqueline, twirling her fork in her fingers, but not actually touching the food.’
      • ‘She gave me a smile as I picked up my fork and started twirling it.’
      • ‘Corrina picked up her fork and twirled it around in her salad, never once raising the food to her mouth.’
      • ‘She twirled the umbrella by rolling it in the palms of her hands.’
      • ‘Lexa frowned thoughtfully, absently twirling a few strands of dark brown hair between her fingers as she walked.’
      • ‘Livi laughed, idly twirling a strand of her hair around her finger.’
      • ‘I sighed, absent-mindedly twirling a lock of hair around a finger.’
      • ‘Bored, Emily props her chin up with right hand, absently twirling her hair with the left.’
      • ‘He absent-mindedly twirled a lock of crimson hair around his finger.’
      • ‘The swordsman reached up and gently twirled a lock of her long hair around his finger.’
      • ‘"Egypt, along the Nile River, " she said, nervously twirling her hair.’
      • ‘The reporter frowned and idly twirled a black curl between her fingers.’
      • ‘Anna reached up and absent-mindedly twirled her finger around one of her golden curls.’
      • ‘His black gloved fingers twirled his substantial black moustache.’
      • ‘My long cream coloured fingers twirled a black pen, idly, while I thought about home.’
      • ‘The swordsman then twirled the sword in his hands, and raised it high.’
      • ‘Deliphine was then twirling the sword with her hands and with one swift movement, she pointed it at him.’
      • ‘We knew the Calvin who worked with kids, organized basketball camps and taught baton twirling.’
      • ‘The truth is the thing that I excel at in the most is actually baton twirling.’
      • ‘Sarah idly twirled the white gold band on her wedding finger.’
      wind, twist, coil, curl, wrap
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noun

  • 1An act of spinning.

    ‘Kate did a twirl in front of the mirror’
    • ‘The more you practice, the more complicated moves you'll be able to do, like turns and twirls.’
    • ‘I kept on skating ahead of him, gathering more and more momentum and doing a complex combination of twirls, spins, and turns.’
    • ‘We exited the atmosphere perfectly with a few bumps and twirls.’
    • ‘I gave a modeling twirl, hair swishing about my shoulders as I turned.’
    • ‘Laura looked at the food and felt her stomach do twirls and twists.’
    • ‘He caught her out of her twirl and pulled her close to him in front of a camera, making them look like a couple before kissing her cheek, cameras flashing all the while.’
    • ‘The moves they showed me contained many spins, twirls and slashes that looked like they would harm themselves with, but they pulled off easily.’
    • ‘The cherry blossoms danced in random loops and twirls before resting on the grass below our feet.’
    • ‘She did one final twirl for herself in front of the mirror before smiling to herself again and walking to the door carefully in her tall black pump heels.’
    • ‘‘You can turn around now,’ I said and did a twirl for Kaiek.’
    • ‘Turning on her heel Sheasa did a twirl and stabbed the air.’
    • ‘Then, with a twirl on her heel, he turned around and walked off in the opposite direction to where Terr'ach was going.’
    • ‘I ran to the kitchen, and I turned, and I did a complete twirl and fell against the wall.’
    • ‘When he released her she turned around and did a twirl to show off her present.’
    • ‘The early shorts show off his great dervishing twirls and kicks.’
    • ‘I performed a few perfunctory twirls and made good my escape.’
    • ‘Little girls were doing little twirls with the dancing Angelina Ballerina.’
    • ‘A quick twirl of the moustache and I'm off to The Pub, If I don't write again, have a very Happy Christmas.’
    • ‘The girls were expected to follow pretty complicated choreographed dance and exercise sequences - and one by one they came forward to perform back flips, twirls and even the splits.’
    • ‘My heart became its own circus act, doing several summersaults and then some twirls and a back flip or two, when I heard the sound of her flowing voice.’
    pirouette, spin, whirl, turn
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    1. 1.1A spiralling or swirling shape, especially a flourish made with a pen.
      ‘on the lid was a name written in old-fashioned twirls’
      • ‘Her name in an exquisite, flowing script glistened back at her, the letters furling and flourishing themselves in elegant swirls and twirls.’
      • ‘A telltale sign of both species are the intricate spirals and twirls of their spawn on the base of individual blades of eel-grass, and these will often lead you to the perpetrator.’
      • ‘His waxed moustache had turned into perfect twirls at their ends.’
      • ‘He spends his free time pacing back and forth the bridge, stroking the ridges and twirls in the metalwork with his dull black eyes.’

Origin

Late 16th century probably an alteration (by association with whirl) of tirl, a variant of archaic trill ‘twiddle, spin’.

Pronunciation

twirl

/twəːl/