# whirl

> English word · Verb · IPA /wɜːl/ · frequency rank #30,653

## Definitions
1. To rotate, revolve, spin or turn rapidly.
2. To have a sensation of spinning or reeling.
3. To make something or someone whirl.
4. To remove or carry quickly with, or as with, a revolving motion; to snatch.

## Etymology
From Middle English whirlen, contracted from earlier *whirvelen, *whervelen, possibly from Old English *hwyrflian, *hweorflian (attested in hwirflung, hwerflung (“change, vicissitude”)), frequentative form of Old English hweorfan (“to turn”), itself from Proto-West Germanic *hwerban, from Proto-Germanic *hwerbaną (“to turn”); or perhaps from Old Norse hvirfla (“to go round, spin”). Cognate with Dutch wervelen (“to whirl, swirl”), German wirbeln (“to whirl, swirl”), Danish hvirvle (“to whirl”), Swedish virvla (older spelling hvirfla), Albanian vorbull (“a whirl”). Related to whirr and wharve.

## Easily confused with
- **will** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whirl-vs-will)
- **wire** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whirl-vs-wire)
- **whit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whirl-vs-whit)
- **whiz** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whirl-vs-whiz)
- **white** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whirl-vs-white)
- **whore** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whirl-vs-whore)
- **whisk** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whirl-vs-whisk)
- **whorl** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whirl-vs-whorl)
- **whip** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whip-vs-whirl)
- **weir** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/weir-vs-whirl)
- **whim** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whim-vs-whirl)
- **whig** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whig-vs-whirl)
- **wail** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wail-vs-whirl)
- **which** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/which-vs-whirl)
- **where** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/where-vs-whirl)
- **while** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/while-vs-whirl)
- **weird** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/weird-vs-whirl)
- **wheel** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wheel-vs-whirl)
- **wharf** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wharf-vs-whirl)
- **whine** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whine-vs-whirl)

## Common misspellings (8)
`hwirl`, `whhirl`, `whilr`, `whirll`, `whirrl`, `whril`, `wihrl`, `wwhirl`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/whirl