Whorl

Pronunciation

• enPR: wûrl, IPA: /wɜː(r)l/
• enPR: hwûrl, IPA: /ʍɜː(r)l/ (in Scottish English and some English accents)

• Homophones: whirl

Full definition of whorl

Noun

1. A pattern of concentric circles.
2. (botany) A circle of three or more leaves, flowers, or other organs, about the same part or joint of a stem.
3. (zoology) A volution, or turn, of the spire of a univalve shell.
4. (archaic) A flywheel, a weight attached to a spindle, compare 1460.

Verb

1. (intransitive) To form a pattern of concentric circles.
• 2008, February 12, Jennifer Dunning, Modern Style, Old-Fashioned Virtues, “Waves Against the Sand,” to music by Martinu, which opened the program, filled the stage space with whorling patterns of dancers surging with the gentle but ceaseless momentum of the sea.