whirligig.
Anything that whirls or spins around, such as a toy top or a merry-go-round.
Meaning & usage
Anything that whirls or spins around, such as a toy top or a merry-go-round.
A device incorporating spinning, wind-driven propellers or pinwheels, used as whimsical outdoor decoration in a garden or on a porch.
Ellipsis of whirligig beetle.
A device for punishing prisoners, comprising a wooden cage that rapidly spins around to induce nausea.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English whyrlegygge; equivalent to whirl (noun or verb) + gig (“a top”).
To spin or twirl about quickly.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English whyrlegygge; equivalent to whirl (noun or verb) + gig (“a top”).
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.