1. A child's toy, spun or whirled around like a wheel upon an axis, or
like a top. Johnson.
2. Anything which whirls around, or in which persons or things are
whirled about, as a frame with seats or wooden horses.
With a whirligig of jubilant mosquitoes spinning about each head.
G. W. Cable.
3. A mediæval instrument for punishing petty offenders, being a kind of
wooden cage turning on a pivot, in which the offender was whirled round
with great velocity.
4. (Zoöl.) Any one of numerous species of beetles belonging to Gyrinus
and allied genera. The body is firm, oval or boatlike in form, and
usually dark colored with a bronzelike luster. These beetles live
mostly on the surface of water, and move about with great celerity in a
gyrating, or circular, manner, but they are also able to dive and swim
rapidly. The larva is aquatic. Called also weaver, whirlwig, and
whirlwig beetle.
Whirl"ing (?), a. & n. from Whirl, v. t.
Whirling table. (a) (Physics) An apparatus provided with one or more
revolving disks, with weights, pulleys, and other attachments, for
illustrating the phenomena and laws of centrifugal force, and the like.
(b) A potter's wheel.
Whirl"pit` (?), n. A whirlpool. [Obs.] "Raging whirlpits." Sandys.
Whirl"pool` (?), n.
1. An eddy or vortex of water; a place in a body of water where the
water moves round in a circle so as to produce a depression or cavity
in the center, into which floating objects may be drawn; any body of
water having a more or less circular motion caused by its flowing in an
irregular channel, by the coming together of opposing currents, or the
like.